A Point Place Production
by ddtje70
Summary: Takes place towards the end of S7. Eric is still looking for his direction in life, and Jackie has just started her Point Place Cable news show! What happens when they make a deal to work together? And where do Donna and Hyde fit into all this?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:**** Here I go again! Just another idea that popped into my head while watching the show. If you haven't seen the end of S7 E16, or the beginning of S7 E17, or just forget what happens during them, I recommend you see them just to have a good idea of what is happening before you start reading. I didn't know I'd be doing a second story on here, but you were all awesome with your reviews of my previous work, so I couldn't wait to get started on this. Thank you all and I hope you enjoy!**

**A Point Place Production**

Chapter 1

Eric Foreman just finished shutting off the television after watching his buddy Kelso's big tv debut on "Slut or Not". He got a chuckle out of witnessing the world's first televised "burn" right before his very eyes. It was a moment of much needed comic relief for him, as this had not been the best of weeks so far.

See, what happened earlier in the day had him extremely worried about his future. The trip over to Stu Bailey's (or to be entirely accurate, his mother's) house proved to be an eye opener. Was it his destiny to be eating sandwiches in the shape of X-Wing fighters made by mommy in another fifteen years? He certainly hoped not. On an impulse, he returned home to the basement to see none other than the tiny devil herself sitting on the couch, seemingly in deep thought herself.

Eric had to admit to himself that when it came to the basement group, Jackie would be about the _last_ person he would want to see after having his latest life epiphany occur just a couple hours prior to now. It did cheer him up a bit to know deep down that his arch nemesis was as human as he was when she told him about her failed television debut. For reasons unknown to him, he was always a sucker for when she looked desperate for help and advice as she did then. He gave her his honest opinion about her latest crisis, which gave her the lift she apparently needed to stop feeling sorry for herself and give her show another try.

Of course, when he started to turn the tables of the conversation back on himself, the ungrateful Ice Queen couldn't get out of the basement quick enough. When Eric really thought about it though, that was the way it always was with them. The geek and the cheerleader never saw eye to eye, and were simply bound together by having the same friends.

So what happened next? Of course, the main topic at the kitchen table for lunch was once again the devil herself! Did the whole world evolve around her or what? He was in the presence of Fez and his surrogate brother and the on again, off again beau of one certain Ice Queen, Stephen Hyde. When Hyde asked Eric for his advice on whether to get back with her, he had to admit that he hated seeing Hyde slip back into his shell he put up. Like her or not, he had to admit he had never seen his curly haired buddy as happy as he was when they were together. After lunch, Fez had to take off for work at the beauty shop, and Hyde decided to go to the tv station and confront Jackie once and for all about their relationship.

Once again, Eric was left alone with his thoughts and knew he had to keep busy or he'd drive himself nuts thinking about his uncertain future. After properly disposing of his comic book collection, he decided to check out Jackie's next attempt at her show, which he thought may provide great comic relief to watch her sweat out being on camera again. Instead, something entirely different happened, the show was actually good!

This led to where he was now, sitting on the couch in the basement contemplating his future once again. _Damn it, _he thought. _Jackie even has set some kind of direction for herself, and she doesn't even graduate high school for a couple more weeks!_ Where was Donna when you needed her? Oh, even she was helping Jackie on this latest venture of hers too, being the director of her newscast. In fact, not counting Hyde for obvious reasons, he was the only person of the group she did not ask to help out with the show. Eric shook his head. _Why would I even want to help out with that project anyway? Would I like being on television? Maybe I should just leave town for...hmmm...leave town...television...camera...bingo! _Eric jumped off from the couch with a giant grin on his face and ran out of the basement for the Vista Cruiser and took the family video camera with him. The devil owed him one...and it was time for him to collect!

On his way to the television studio, he passed Hyde in the El Camino driving in the opposite direction, and he didn't see if there was anyone else in the car with him. _Damn! They probably kissed and made up already. _Normally Eric would care less about the midget's whereabouts, but she was a part of the plan he had formulated. _Oh well, I'm almost there and might as well keep going. Maybe I can give Donna a ride. _The decision was made to keep going to the tv studio and stick to the plan.

Upon his arrival at the studio parking lot, he laid eyes on his longtime friend Michael Kelso and his current girlfriend, also known as Hyde's half-sister Angie. Kelso ran towards the Vista Crusier with a giant grin on his face, greeting his friend as he exited. "Eric, guess what?"he asked excitedly.

Eric smiled at this sight. "I know, man. You were the world's first televised burn victim. You should be proud. By the way, good going Angie! You finally did it."

"Thanks Eric." Angie responded with a smile.

Kelso looked confused, tapping Eric on the shoulder to get his attention back. "That's not the good news though."

"What Kelso, did you find the bouncy ball that went missing the other day?"

The goofy kid shook his head. "No, man. Turns out the tv people in there liked "Slut or Not" so much when I did it of Jackie's show, that I get my own half hour show for it!"

_What is this world coming to? _Eric thought on the inside, but patted his friend on the back in reality. "That's...great Kelso."

"I know. We'll be back at the basement rehearsing for our next show after we get a phone book. See you back there." Kelso waved to his friend as he took Angie's hand as they headed for his car, and they drove off.

Eric took a deep breath as he watched his friends leave. _Time to get this over with._ He then opened the front door and stepped in the studio.

The secretary at the front desk pointed Eric in the right direction and he was surprised at what he saw when he looked in the doorway. There was Jackie Burkhart, sitting at the make-up chair/make shift desk, apparently writing notes about next week's show. Eric knocked at the door softly.

The devil didn't even look up from the work she was doing and just stated "Steven, I'm glad you stopped by and everything, but I have work to fin..."

She was interrupted by another familiar voice "Its not Steven...pudding pop." the voice declared mockingly.

_Whoa! I seem to have hit a nerve! _Eric thought as he he received a momentary glare from her before she just buried her head back in her work before responding. "If you're here for Donna, she left already and I don't have time for..."

Eric interrupted her again. "Actually, surprise, I'm not here to see Donna. I'm here to see you."

Jackie didn't like the smirk he was wearing at the moment. She stood up , arms folded and sighing heavily. "What is it Eric?"

_I better fix what I started here. The heels on those shoes look pretty sharp! _"I'm sorry. When I saw the El Camino drive by on the way here, I figured you just left in it, so I didn't expect to see..."

It was Jackie's turn to interrupt this time. "Why would I do that?" the wheels started to turn in Jackie's head and she started to smile..."Unless that means..." Eric grabbed her arm lightly before she got too excited.

"Look, Jackie, I don't know what he was doing or why he came down. Whatever is going on between you guys is your business." he responded with his hands in the air, declaring his innocence.

She looked at the ground for a moment and regained herself. With a confused glance in the geek's direction, asked the obvious question. "So why are you here, Eric?"

Eric smiled and began speaking. "First off, I saw the show and you were great. I was watching in hopes of getting to see you sweat on camera, but no such luck!"

There was a backhanded complement if she ever heard one. She just smiled back at him. "Yeah, well, its _your own fault_ that you didn't see that again. Imagine that, Eric. I actually listened to your advice."

Eric scoffed at this. "That's hardly the first time you've took my advice, lady! You say it like you weren't looking for it. I know better than that. This time, my advice comes with a price tag."

Jackie just glared in response and started to walk back to her table. "Look, like I said Eric, I have all this work to finish, so I guess I'll be seeing you..."

She was interrupted again and Eric spun her around this time. "Look, it could actually be beneficial to your show here."

Jackie flashed him an annoyed look and folded her arms again. "You have one minute."

Eric took another deep breath and began his pitch. " Like I was beginning to say at home earlier when you left me abruptly, I've wasted this entire year here and I certainly don't want to become the next Stu Bailey."

"Is there a point to this, Eric?"

"Believe it or not, I have the next career I'm going to try to explore. I finished reading Jack Kerouac's _On the Road_ the other day and between that and seeing your show, it led me to the perfect occupation."

Jackie rolled her eyes. "Oh I can't wait to hear this brilliant plan."

Eric grinned. "See, I'm going to bee a Traveling Documentary Filmmaker!"

He was greeted with a pair of multi colored eyes staring back at him like he had five heads or something. "A what...what...what...whatter?" she asked confused.

"You see, its great! Each day I'll travel to a new place and people will buy my movies I make with me telling all my tales from the road. Maybe I'll even write a book about it like Kerouac did."

Jackie shook her head. "And this involves me...how?"

"Simple. Everyone needs to start somewhere. I saw Kelso in the parking lot and what he told me makes my idea that much more brilliant! I can go on the road each week and film a piece on a different place I traveled to. Then you can air it on your show!"

"If that's what you want to try, knock yourself out, really. But I'm warning you right now, Foreman, if _my _show gets dragged down by your little..."

He put her hands on her shoulders in order to stop her speech. "Oh, but I wouldn't _dream_ of interrupting your show with something you don't approve of. That's why the other half the price for my awesome advice is that you're coming with me to produce the piece."

Jackie laughed mockingly at his request. "No can do, Forman. I have this little thing you might have heard of before. It's called school. I know you might have forgotten about obligations like that, but some of us still actually have them!"

Eric pondered what she said for a moment. "Okay, then we'll just do a trip somewhere for the day. We won't go very far since I know how important school really is to you during your last week and everything. All I remember about my last week of school before graduation was figuring out which class I going to show up for before I cut for the day."

"I'm dying of laughter, really Eric. Look, since you _did _help me out today, I'll give this thing a try with you, ONCE. If it doesn't go well, we call the whole thing off. Deal?" Jackie stuck out her hand.

"Deal." he replied, shaking his rival's hand.

Jackie was about to return to her desk and resume working when another question popped into her mind. "Eric, why don't you just ask Donna to produce for you?"

"Well, she's pretty busy these days with producing your show and the gig at the radio station. Plus, I probably owe her way more than she owes me. Get some rest Jackie. We'll meet in my driveway in the morning for out first assignment. See you then." Eric smiled and waved, turning to leave.

Jackie just mumbled "Bye, Eric." as she took her seat at her table. She tried to resume her work, but instead opted to bury her face in her hands. _What have I gotten myself into?_

**A/N:**** I may be thinking the same thing as Jackie, as there are a lot of moving parts to deal with at the point where the story starts. Hope you all like the idea, thank you for reading and I hope to hear from you guys with feedback soon!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:**** Welcome back! Hope you're all enjoying this so far as we begin to pick up steam a bit! Enjoy Chapter 2!**

**A Point Place Production**

Chapter 2

Steven Hyde was up early for a Sunday morning, though he did have a purpose for it. He decided to go over to Grooves early today, as there was inventory that needed to be worked on and he could even enjoy some of his stash he left at work before they had to open later on. He opened the slider to head out to the El Camino, and his eyes went wide to see Jackie Burkhart walking up the Foreman driveway.

"What are you doing here Jackie? It's early and it takes you hours just for you "beautify" yourself for the day."

"Actually Steven, I didn't even know you knew what this time of day was, never mind being awake for it."

Hyde just wore a blank look behind his sunglasses and slightly shook his head. "Well, if that's the way its going to be, I'm late so I have to..."

Jackie poked him in the back and he spun around to face her. "No Steven, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it, just kind of slipped out. I did appreciate your visit to the station yesterday. Speaking of that, was there anything else you wanted to talk about?"

The curly haired zen master let out a sigh before responding. "Well, now that you mention it..." before his thought was completed, he was interrupted by Eric Forman coming out the sliding door with video camera in tow.

Hyde was surprised to see the guy he considered to be his brother and asked, "Forman? What are you doing here?"

A tired Eric was just blunt. "Um, this is our driveway, Hyde."

Hyde was really confused now, and looked between his skinny friend and his loud but pretty ex. "What in the world is going on here? It is well known that you two can't stand each other."

Jackie pointed at Eric accusingly "He put me up to it."

Hyde shot a look at Eric, folding his arms. "You put her up to what, exactly?"

"Remember yesterday at lunch when I told you about the advice I gave her about her show?" Hyde nodded for him to continue. "Well she is just showing her appreciation for said advice. I'm going to have a spot on her show next week and Jackie is going to be my producer. Since you're up, you could go with me instead if her..."

"And get blamed when you drop the camera and break it or something?" Hyde joked. "All set with that man. Make sure you get it on camera when you two fight and this goes wrong. I'll need something to laugh at on the tube next week." Hyde looked at his watch. "Gotta get to Grooves before it gets late and Angie shows up. Thanks for making my morning, both of you. That's going to be classic. Later." he said laughing the whole way to the El Camino.

Eric was watching his basement dwelling friend leave when he felt a hand hit him on the shoulder. It startled him to the effect that he almost dropped the camera. He turned around to the glare of the devil. "Thanks a lot, Eric. you weakling!"

Eric was confused "What...what did I do?"

Jackie just sighed heavily. "Look, let's just get this done okay? The sooner this is done, the sooner I'll never have to work with you again!" she declared as she opened the door to the Vista Cruiser and slammed it shut.

Eric just sighed and looked to the morning sky. _This is going to be a long day._

As the rivals drove down the road, Jackie figured out a way to prop the camera against the dashboard of the Vista Cruiser. As the former cheerleader flicked the switch to turn on the camera, the pair were in the act of what they do best together...arguing!

"Eric, we need to stop at the drugstore for an air freshener. It smells like a blond lumberjack's perfume in here!"

"Well, that lumberjack happens to be my girlfriend not to mention _your_ best friend so here's what you can do..." Eric was interrupted by his passenger again.

"Eric..Eric...we're rolling!" she hissed at him.

Eric, was caught by surprise by this news. "We're what..Oh!" He cleared his throat for a moment and put on the best television grin that he could pull off and looked into the rolling camera. "Hey, I'm Eric Forman and this is On the Roads of Point Place, not to be confused with other great work shot by this camera as..." Jackie moved the camera so it was focusing on her.

"Such as Mr. Forman's foot On the Road to his twitchy son's ass!" she declared with a smile.

Eric put up his hand like he was whispering. "What are you doing? You can't say ass on public cable!"

Jackie rolled her eyes. "Its called editing! It does wonders, really." Eric glared back at her as he moved the camera back so it was shooting him again.

"Oh, by the way Point Place, you're in for a treat! During this segment, you're going to get a glimpse of the real personality of your hostess, the Ice Queen herself and producer of On the Road, Jackie Burkhart!" Eric took his free hand and spun the camera towards her. "Say hello to all your loyal viewers Jackie!"

The camera caught her shooting daggers at the driver's head. She looked in the camera and flashed a fake smile. "Look, this is a temporary situation that will be solved by next week, so sorry for and inconvenience this may cause anyone by being bored to tears by this segment."

Eric moved the camera again so the both of them were in the shot and spoke. "So, oh wise one, where we going to educate the viewers about on this _boring_ segment?"

Jackie looked put out by this question. "Well this was _your_ brilliant mastermind, so I figured you already had a plan! I think we should just turn this car around and...."she got cut off mid sentence.

"I thought this was _your show!" _he accusingly interrupted her. " Based on your supposed expertise in television I assumed that you would already thought of a location to..."

_That's it! I'm canceling this right now!_ Jackie thought as she reached for the camera. She just about got to the switch when Eric stopped her from turning the camera off. She glared at him, "Just what do you think you're doing?" she asked him.

"No...Jackie...you can't..." he sighed to himself before looking her in the eye pleadingly. "Look, I'm sorry. There's just all this pressure I'm under with the parents to figure out what to do with my life. If I don't at least try this and give it a go, I could be throwing a good opportunity away. I'm feeling a bit frustrated and I shouldn't have taken it out on you."

Jackie's expression had softened during this apology, and she turned the camera so it was focused on Eric during his brief speech. She then paused for a moment before she responded. "Look Eric, you definitely not the only person going through things in your life right now. You witnessed part of what I'm having to deal with back in your driveway. Not to mention that I'm graduating in a couple of weeks, and asking myself the same things you are. So let's just try to get through this day in one piece, deal?"

Eric nodded with a small smile. "Deal." He then began to think out loud. "Now where in town would be fitting of a segment like this, where do we have good stories to tell about?"

The pair made eye contact following the burning question and exchanged a knowing glance. "The Water Tower!" they claimed simultaneously.

Eric made the most obvious declaration of the day so far. "Its about time we agreed on something!" he claimed as they shared a laugh.

Since they were going to use the Water Tower for the show, they agreed to stop by the station and pick up a stand they could use in order to shoot the footage without someone falling off during a lapse of concentration. A little while later, our subjects were set up atop the structure and Jackie flipped the switch on.

Eric stood in front of the camera and started to introduce their first location. "Well Point Place, I am pretty certain that you know where I am standing at the moment, as there is no other place like it in town. That's right ladies and gentlemen, I'm standing on top of the Point Place Water Tower."

Before Eric went to speak again, Jackie tried to whisper something to hem from her post behind the camera, confusing him. She was startled when he grabbed her hand and placed her in front of the camera. "Apparently your hostess has something she would like to add. Take it Jackie."

Jackie gave him a look before putting on that television smile and speaking. "I would just like to say that if there are any parents of students at Point Place High out there watching, do not think that every teenager in town is as dumb as the people we talk about here. They're just lucky I was here with them in order to keep them alive today. Also, for all you kids watching, do not try this at home! Thank you." she turned to step away but Eric kept her in the camera shot at the moment.

"Whoa, Jackie. Don't go acting like little miss innocent here. You are just as responsible for incidents that occurred here as the rest of us."

Jackie shook her head and folded her arms. "Name one."

"How about when we were up here just a few months ago, when I fell off this thing because you wouldn't give me a hand when I asked you for it!"

"What did you expect, you had just ate Peetos! Besides, if you never fell off, you wouldn't have landed on that microscopic engagement ring of yours and been able to return it so you could finance the year of slacking you just completed, so there!"

"Oh yeah, well how come both of your ex's have fallen off of this thing? Ironically, they were both dating you at the time they fell. You put a jinx on them both, Burkhart!"

Jackie was ready to retaliate. "Yeah? Well the way I recall it, wasn't it your lumberjack of a fiance that pushed Steven off because she didn't realize her own strength while drinking up here? So actually, its your fault Steven fell off this thing! If you had just gotten married like you were supposed to, he never would have been up here that night to begin with."

"Okay, I've heard your excuse for Hyde, now what about Kelso?"

Jackie just chuckled and shook her head. "I have no excuses for Michael. He's fallen off almost every time he's been up here."

Eric laughed. "Yeah. Remember when he fell while trying to make the group masterpiece not look like we were giving the entire town the finger?"

"I do. I also remember Fez came by himself trying to finish it, and he fell too!"

"I remember how you blamed Hyde for Kelso's first fall off here. You were so mad."

Jackie let out a sigh, looking at the "artwork" still on display on the tower. She also noticed the "Michael + Jackie" that was on there as well. She shook her head before looking Eric's way. "It seems like that was so long ago."

Eric nodded in agreement. "If only we could stay that young forever." he almost whispered.

Jackie sensed that this trip down memory lane was starting to effect him a bit. "So what lesson do we take out of today's edition of On the Road Eric?"

Eric looked to the camera and spoke. "Enjoy your youth. You only have it once."

Jackie took over. "For Eric Forman, I'm Jackie Burkhart. We'll see you next week!."

After a moment, Jackie was happy with the way the segment had gone and got a bit excited. "Oh my god!" she squealed. "Eric, that was terrific!" she approached him going for a celebratory hug.

Eric clearly wasn't expecting it as instead of hugging him, our host and hostess bumped shoulders, sending Eric flying down the tower the hard way. "Jackie what the...ahhhhhh!" was the response during this series of events.

Jackie looked down and yelled frantically "Oh my God, Eric! Are you okay?" she then glanced at the camera, noticing the camera was still on. She looked into it and gave a nervous laugh. "There you have it Point Place! That is why you do not try this at home!"

The only other thing you heard before the camera shut off was a whimpering Eric calling from the ground. "Jackie...help...please."

Eric turned out to only sustain a bump on the head, as he remembered how to land from his pervious fall. After recollecting himself, it was a couple hours later that he was back in the driveway in the Vista Cruiser.

Jackie looked at him worriedly as they exited the car. "Eric, I am so sorry about earlier. I mean, I was so happy with how things..."

He interrupted, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Its alright, Jackie. Though it does seem I was right about your jinx. That's the second time in a row you've placed it on me."

Jackie looked as if she was going to weep right there. "Hey, it was only a joke!" he declared.

"I know, its like I said earlier that we're all dealing with things right now." before he could speak again, she continued. "With that being said, thank you for today. I know it was only a job, but it took my mind off of things for a while."

Eric nodded in agreement. "Yeah. It did for me too. You going to the basement, or do you need a ride home?"

"I'll just walk, thanks though. You just get inside and put ice on that dome of yours."

"Okay, but I have one more question."

"What is it?"

"Do I get another week?"

"Yeah, I'd say you've earned it. Try thinking of another location. I'll be by later to help with the editing."

"Bye, Jackie."

"Bye Eric. Thanks again!" she locked eyes with him before turning and starting her walk home.

Eric turned and opened the slider to the kitchen. _Man, what an expectedly fun day._ He was on his way to get ice for his head when he noticed an envelope on the kitchen table with his name on it. He picked it up, opened it, and began to read:

_Dear Eric,_

_Meet me at The Hub at 7 tonight. Tell no one. Its really important._

_Love, Donna_

**A/N:  Hope you all enjoyed! Writing this really picked me up after watching my Sox blow the lead in the ninth! Let me know what you guts think!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:**** Moving right along here! Hope you all enjoy Chapter 3!**

**A Point Place Production**

Chapter 3

Momentarily forgetting about his throbbing head, Eric just landed in the closest chair in the kitchen after reading the note. He hadn't seen Donna yet this weekend, as she helped shoot Jackie's show the day before. He was excited about starting his show today that he just kind of forgotten to call her last night. It wasn't like her to leave notes and be so secretive about anything. _This must be something big._Suddenly, he felt his headache coming back again and went to get ice to put on the minor wound he sustained at the water tower.

Hoping to find some sort of way to take his mind off of the encounter that was forthcoming, he went down to the basement, hoping to find some comic relief down there but all he found was an empty room. He took a seat on the couch and mindlessly flipped on the tv, with it landing on _Three's Company. _He blankly stared at the tv, beginning to wonder how he got to be sitting there alone. _Hyde has Grooves, Fez has the beauty salon, and Kelso has the police academy. Maybe Jackie was right. This is a pivotal time in our lives. Change is happening, if I like it or not. _Being tired from being up early in the morning, this was Eric's last thought before nodding off to sleep.

A couple of hours later, an alarmed Eric awoke. He frantically looked around for the time. His eyes bugged out of his head when the clock read 6:45. _Oh, crap! I got fifteen minutes to get to the Hub! _He raced to the bathroom to fix himself up and booked it for the Vista Cruiser. As he opened the slider, he encountered Red as he was waxing his car in the garage. Curious as to what all the fuss was about, Red asked "Eric, where do you think you're off to so quick?"

Eric didn't stop or look back, opening the car door and answered. "Sorry...dad...can't talk now...gonna be late!"

"Late for what?" It was too late though. By the time Red asked the question, he was greeted by the screeching of the tires of the Vista Cruiser as Eric quickly backed out of the driveway, and sped down the road. All Red could do was shake his head as he arrived at one conclusion. "That kid's still on dope!" he muttered to himself as he resumed waxing the car.

Eric arrived and parked in front of the Hub at 7:00 on the button and scrambled out of the door. He looked in the window an there she was, sitting in the booth in the back of the Hub. Eric stopped for a moment to admire the scene. _Still as beautiful as ever, _he thought to himself. _Well, here goes nothing. _Eric took a deep breatch and opened the door to the Hub.

Donna saw him enter the hangout and stood to greet him with a smile. "Eric, I'm glad you made it." she said with a warm smile.

Eric walked into her extended arms and gave her a brief hug and a kiss before speaking. "Where else would I be? Besides, I haven't seen you all weekend. Why didn't you just come to the basement. Jackie and I finished filming hours ago now."

The question was met with a heavy sigh from his longtime girlfriend. _This is going to be harder than I thought, _she realized to herself. Not prepared to say what she needed to yet, she decided to keep the conversation light for the moment. "So, I see you two made it through filming today in one piece." Donna suddenly looked alarmed. "Wait, I haven't seen Jackie yet today. You guys did make it though the day together, right?"

Eric gave a light chuckle to the line of questioning. "Yeah, we did just fine. I'd dare to say we even had fun. I' actually looking forward do filming the next one next week."

She gave a smile in response. "Eric, that's great! Who knows, this really could be the start of something for you."

"Yeah, just wait until you see it on the show. I think by the time people are done watching, they'll be a line of concerned teenage parents, but hey, what can you do, right?"

Donna's smile disappeared into a frown while he was responding and she sighed heavily. "Actually Eric,...um....I'm,...I'm..."

Eric became concerned. "You're what Donna?"

"I'm not going to be around to see next week's show."

Eric waved it off. "Oh, that's what this is all about? That's okay, there will be other weeks, and I am sure Jackie can find a substitute for you for the sh..."

Donna cut him off and took his hand. "No Eric, what I'm saying is I won't be around to watch because I won't be around Point Place for a while."

Eric's eyes grew wide. "What are you talking about?"

"Eric, when I put off going to school to stay with you last year, I was able to delay my admission until I knew for sure what was going to happen with us. The waiting period with the University runs out in September. If I don't start going to school there by the fall, I'd have to reapply for admission and they keep the money my parents paid for tuition. They offer a summer semester, so I called them up last week and I registered for it. I'm going to school in Madison and by bus leaves in twenty minutes."

Donna looked up and all she saw was a mouth hung open in a state of shock. "Wha...how...why...how could you not tell me sooner?"

She buried her face in her hands. "Because, I knew if I told you sooner, I knew you'd try to get me to stay. It would be so much harder if I had to face you for days because I know I would give in and stay. I can't do that anymore, Eric. I have to do this or I'm always going to wonder, what if? It's not fair to me and it's now fair to you either since I'd be miserable."

"Right now, the only thing that doesn't seem fair is how you kept this from me."

"I know you're upset Eric and this WAS the hardest decision I've ever made. If we're meant to be together, then we will find our way back."

"That's a little hard for me to believe right now, Donna."

There were tears streaming down Donna's face as she saw the bus stop out front. She got up and grabbed her bags and walked towards the door, with Eric following her out. She was shaking when she dropped her bags and enveloped Eric in a goodbye hug. "I'm so sorry Eric. I hope you find it in your heart someday to forgive me for this. You will always be my closest friend. Just forgive me."

As Eric released her from the hug he just sighed and responded "Maybe one day I will. Bye Donna, good luck in Madison."

"Good luck, Eric." she responded while sobbing. She then turned to look at him one last time before going to get on the bus.

Eric held out hope that it world be just like last time. Just a big false alarm. However, the bus pulled away and there was nobody remaining on the sidewalk.

Eric started to tremble before he had his own tears falling. He couldn't believe it. Donna was gone. For _real _this time.

Five days later...

It had been one _long_ week for Eric. He only got out of bed at the obligatory meal times and nobody knew quite what to do. Everyone in the group was shocked by Donna's decision and those that remained in the basement even admitted that things didn't feel the same.

Even the parents felt the ramifications of what had happened. There were numerous objects threatened to be shoved up Bob Pinciotti's ass for keeping Red and Kitty in the dark about what was happening. Kitty was becoming increasingly concerned about her son, as he shut himself in his room just like the last time Eric and Donna broke things off.

The gang's attempts to cheer Eric up had also failed. Kelso had tried to get Eric to help him with determining which girls were _Sluts or Not_ for his show but the last thing Eric had wanted to talk about was women. The next day, he thought it was a good idea to bring Fez with him and they made balloon animals. This went okay until Fez stuffed his shirt with blown up balloons, which promptly got them thrown out. The next day, Hyde joined the cause and the guys attempted the circle in Eric's room. They barely avoided utter disaster, as Red walked by and smelled something burning. In a quick attempt to rectify the situation, Kelso lit his own shoelaces on fire. His feet were okay but his shoes were history!

The only person who Eric had not seen since the night of the break up was Jackie Burkhart. He didn't know if that made him feel better or worse. Sure, there was that one day last week where they got along while shooting for the show at the Water Tower, but that was probably the exception rather than the rule. Eric sat up and sighed heavily as his thoughts flashed back to Donna once again. He picked up one of his GI Joe's that was on the floor next to his bed. _Look at you...all alone....completely and utterly alo...._

Eric was interrupted by a knock at the bedroom door. Before he could tell whoever it was to get lost, Jackie has already come in and spoke immediately. "Eric, where have you been? I thought we could work on..." her nose crinkled up. "Ew, what's that smell."

Eric looked around the room and pulled Kelso's burnt shoes from under the bed. "Oh, Kelso had a little accident yesterday in here and basically saved all of us from Red."

"O...kay." She replied a bit frightened, but didn't inquire any further. She continued "Okay Eric, its time for you to get out of this sty of a room, and come help me with the editing for the show. It _is_ tomorrow you know."

Eric just waved off the request. "Just burn the tape for all I care anymore. I won't be making it to..."

"ERIC!" she had her hands on her hips and a very stern look on her face.

Another thought went through Eric's mind at that moment. "You know what, Jackie...why should I help you with anything?" he shook his head. "Once again, you only appear before me when you want something, like helping with the show! I've been up here for almost a week and seen everyone else at least come try to cheer me up. But no, Jackie Brukhart only comes when there's something she needs from me ! How selfish and you...." Whack!

Eric's face suddenly stung from the blow he was just dealt. He looked up to see Jackie standing there with silent tears. "You think this is easy on _me? _Look around, Eric! How many other girlfriends did I have besides her? So, excuse me if I wasn't in the best mood either! I have to finish working on our segment for the show and hoped it might cheer you up! But at least we know who the selfish one really is here!" she ran out of Eric's room and his face fell.

_Oh, man. She does really care doesn't she! _Eric jumped out of bed and raced down the hall and the stairs while calling out "Jackie?...Jackie, wait!" He ran through the living room and opened the door to the kitchen.

Greeting there was Steven Hyde staring right him as he held a tearful Jackie Bukhart in his arms as she sobbed with her head on his shoulder. Hyde didn't look too happy and asked what was on his mind. "What the hell happened here, Forman?"


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:**** Thank you all so much for all the great reviews! I'm really pleased you're all enjoying it thus far. This isn't very long, but it's necessary to get to the next phase of the story. Hope you all enjoy!**

**A Point Place Production**

Chapter 4

Eric stood frozen at the scene that was playing out in front of him. He knew he had gone too far in his room, as he tried to speak. "Jackie, I'm so..."

Still sobbing, Jackie just whispered. " I can't talk to you right now. Steven, please take me home." after making her request, Jackie ran outside, presumably to wait for Hyde.

Hyde just stood there for a moment staring at his surrogate brother. "Honestly Foreman, put on some pants when you come out of your room. You're scaring everyone away!" he then turned and left the house, heading for the driveway.

Eric just stood there. _Man, I messed up again!_

_The next morning..._

Eric alarmingly sat up in his bed, hearing a pounding on his bedroom door. He groggily looked around and found his clock on the bedside table read 7:00. He then heard the last voice in the world that he wanted to hear at the moment. "Time to get out of bed, dumbass!"

Eric didn't respond and instead pulled the covers over his head. _Its way too early! Besides if I get out of bed, only bad things have happened this week. Wait, what the...._thud! He landed hard on the floor of his roomand looked in to the cold, stern eyes of his father, Red Forman. "That's as much as I can take! You're getting up, getting dressed, and I understand that you have a commitment to show up for later. I understand its on tv later and if I don't see you with the Loud One on my screen you're going to need that camera. You'll need the camera to film my brand new show. It's going to be named My Foot! That's right My Foot on The Road to in my son's ass! No get up, get clean, and get dressed! I mean it dumbass, NOW!" a startled Eric bounced right up on his feet and ran down the hall to the bathroom.

Eric was up and dressed for the first time in almost a week, and went to the basement to find Hyde staring at the television. "Is that Little House on the Prairie again?"

"Shut up, Forman. If I were you, I'd be worried about other things right now."

"Just for the record, that's not a denial Hyde. Now I guess I need to know how upset she is with me right now."

"What did you say to her anyway?"

Eric just shook his head. "I was being selfish, man. I was so wrapped up with my break up with Donna that I never considered how the rest of you were handling her departure. I was a bad friend, so I'm sorry man."

Hyde just shrugged. "I could care less, Forman. Yes, I will miss _many_ things about Donna, but I was around last time, so I knew how you were going to react. Besides, I'm not the one who needs any apology."

Eric sighed. "I know. I've been threatened to have the ol' foot in the ass filmed if I don't show up there today."

"So, that was the yelling I heard through the vent this morning! Man, I wish I was there to laugh at that!"

"Whatever. I guess I should go to the station and see if she needs any help setting up and so we can talk this out."

Hyde nodded. "She won't be there yet, Forman. I was supposed to drive her down to the station, bet since you've been threatened by Red, I guess I'll leave that assignment to you."

"And what will you be doing."

"Well, since Angie has Grooves covered today, I'm going to stay here, enjoy some of my stash, then turn on the tv and laugh at however you mess this up again."

Eric got up and started towards the door. "I knew I could count on me for that vote of confidence."

Hyde nodded in response. "You know you always can, man. Good luck, Foreman."

"Thanks, Hyde. Later."

"Later."

About twenty minutes later, the Vista Cruiser pulled up in front of the Burkhart residence. Eric thought about is, and he could probably count on one hand the amount of ties he's visited this particular house. The last tie he remembered being here was the dinner party Jackie hosted where Kelso would up starting a fire in the living room. He lightly chuckled at the memory and he thought _wow, what a different time that was back then._ Eric then arrived at the front door and rang the bell.

Jackie was just finishing up getting herself fixed up for the show when the doorbell rang. She was quickly putting things in her pocketbook and ran to the door, not paying attention to who was on the other side. "Steven, after the show today I thought we could..." she was cut off, but not by the person she expected to be there.

"Its not Steven."

Jackie looked up and shot a glare at her television partner in crime. "Eric, what are you doing? Steven was supposed to drive me to the station, so if you don't mind, I'll be going now!" she sent to shut the door, but a skinny arm got in the way.

"Ouch!" apparently, it was more like she tried to slam the door. Eric shook his arm, trying to regain some circulation. "Damn, Jackie, I know you're upset, but was that really necessary?"

Jackie just stood there stunned at her actions. "Oh my god, Eric, are you okay? I'll go get some ice from the kitchen. But, I don't know if I have ice cubes small enough to go on that twig of yours!" she smirked at him as she went for ice.

Eric yelled out to her. "Must you burn at my time of need?"

Jackie gave him ice cubes wrapped up in paper towels and he applied it to his arm. "Well, it serves you right." she remarked.

Eric heavily sighed. "I'm sorry Jackie. I never even considered how you would take Donna's departure and I saw your point. I was really the selfish one by not even thinking of how any of you would be effected by her leaving. I was wrong and hope you can forgive me."

Jackie's expression softened as she let out a brief sigh before forming a small smile. "Apology accepted. I think what hurt me the most about last night was the fact that you wouldn't listen to me. Whenever I have come to you with something in the past, you always were there to hear me out. You always gave me your honest responses no matter what is was. Cheese jobs, being too nervous to go on television, and even when I thought when I was pregnant. When you refused to do the same thing last night, that hurt the most."

Eric nodded. "Especially because we are hurting over the same thing. Well, not anymore, since you slammed my arm in the door."

"Yeah, sorry about that. Also, about what you said the other day about not listening to you? You were right, and I really wanted to know how you were feeling about things. So, I can see your point about that so I'm sorry and I'll try harder to do that for you in the future. I don't know, Eric! All this listening and feeling stuff has me feel like we could be best...."

Eric looked on with furrowed brow. "Best what?"

"Best girlfriends!" she exclaimed.

Eric rolled his eyes. "Great, it's like a dream come true!" he got a smack on his good arm for the remark.

"Smartass!"

"Well, not that all that's out of the way, I believe we have a show to do. May I drive you to the studio?" Eric held out his hand after returning to his feet.

Jackie smiled and took his hand, accepting his help up from her seat. "Thought you'd never ask!" She then let Eric lead her out of the house and to the Vista Cruiser.

It was show time!


	5. Chapter 5

**A Point Place Production**

**Chapter 5**

The Vista Cruiser pulled up to the studio as Eric was thankful for the arrival, which meant the ABBA songs that he let Jackie fill his cassette deck with would be coming to an abrupt end.

"Thank god we're here if it means that the ABBA listening party is over!" Eric declared while exiting the vehicle.

Jackie scoffed. "Oh please, Foreman! Like your taste in music is so great! Don't I recall a certain someone wanting to skip Thanksgiving so he could attend a concert by Styx? Now what kind of a dumbass does that?"

Eric smirked. "You're just jealous that I didn't invite you along!"

"In your dreams, Foreman! Besides you better behave or I'm going to make you do make overs with me after the show "girlfriend"!

Eric's eyes grew wide at the thought and he threw his hands up. "Okay I give! You win this round Burkhart."

Jackie replied with a small grin. "See Eric, now you're learning. The door please?"

Eric took alert of the request and opened the door for his producer as they entered the studio.

_Inside the studio..._

Jackie and Eric came through the door of the news set to see a not so happy Michael Kelso slamming the phone book on the desk in front of him.

"So, in conclusion, every single woman listed in the phone book is a one hundred percent slut! Until next time, I'm Michael Kelso!"

As soon as it was clear that the show was off the air, Bruce, the station manager burst out of his office and declared in a raised voice "That's the last time we air that show, ever, because..."

Kelso interrupted the thought by loudly stomping his foot and screamed "I QUIT!" He then booked it for the exit after his declaration.

Fez, who had been operating the camera for Slut or Not came over to Eric and Jackie while shaking his head. "Aiiy, you two! That was so scary! I've never seen him like that before!"

A confused Eric asked "What happened Fez?"

"I have no idea. He wouldn't talk before the show! I hope I'm still getting the candy he promised me for being his cameraman!"

Eric turned towards Jackie "Do I have time before my part of the show?"

"Yeah but be back here in twenty minutes. You're my closing story this week!" Eric nodded at her request and booked it out to the parking lot to find his upset friend.

Jackie turned back to Fez. "I want to thank you for taking over for Donna as cameraman for my show, but tell me one more time what the number one rule is."

Fez looked at the ground and replied in a hushed tone. "Keep the camera pointed at your face and not your boobs."

She motioned for her foreign friend to continue. "Or else.."

"Or else I don't get my candy."

"That's right! I knew you'd see it my way."

Fez pouted and took his place behind the camera. "You're no fun! Okay Jackie, you're live in three, two, one..."

_Meanwhile, back outside..._

Eric sprinted through the parking lot, calling after his upset friend. "Kelso!"

As soon as he finally caught up to him, Kelso stopped short and turned around, and the two buddies bumped heads. "AAH! Jeez Eric, watch where you're running! I really don't want to have to use the Vista Cruiser to try street canoeing again, but you're really tempting me to right now."

"Whoa Kelso, calm down buddy." Eric replied softly. "The last time I saw you this upset was that time at the mall when you saw that Easter Bunny take his mask off because he was on his break and you threatened him because you thought he killed the real one!"

Kelso shook his head. " I still think he did something to the real one. My chocolate eggs haven't tasted the same since!"

"Well, now that I've got you thinking a bit more rationally, why don't you tell me what happened."

"It was terrible Eric! Angie...du-du-...dumped me! She dumped me man! She's supposed to know that I'm supposed to sleep with her best friend first!"

"Sorry you couldn't see that whole plan through, man. Why did she end it?"

Kelso shrugged. "Something about WB giving her a promotion. She's going to be workong in Grooves corporate office in Milwaukee. Doesn't she know that I'm too good looking to be kicked to the curb like that?"

Eric put his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Well, you know what the good news about all this is, don't you?"

"No, what's that?"

"There's a whole world full of women waiting for you to sleep with their best friends!"

Kelso cracked a huge grin. "Wow. I never thought of it like that! Thanks for the pick me up. Man, that's awesome!"

"I'm just doing my job. So I'll see you at the basement after I do my show?"

"Actually, I'm headed to Chicago for the week. Brooke is going on some family retreat or something and she wants me to look after Betsy. Hey, I'm feeling better just thinking about taht! There will be all kinds of toys, and maybe we can visit the water park."

"Kelso...the baby isn't even two years old yet. No water parks. There are all her toys though."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Good luck working with Jackie, man. She can be so difficult sometimes! Like when she..."

Eric interrupted mid-sentence. "Whatever it is, I'll deal with it as it comes. Just take care of that baby of yours."

Kelso nodded in response. "I will. Good luck on that show of yours. And Eric?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

With that, Kelso took off towards the car as Eric headed back towards the studio.

_Back inside..._

Jackie was beginning to panic as she looked around frantically. Eric's segment was next and he was still nowhere to be found. _If he doesn't show up in thirty seconds, I'll kick his scrawny, twitchy little..._

Her thought was interrupted by the sight of Eric Foreman bursting through the door looking out of breath. "I'm...here...did I make it on time. Calming Kelso can be a real chore sometimes!"

Jackie frowned. "Yeah, and if you arrived any later the janitor here would have a real chore picking you up from the floor after I got done kicking your butt!"

She reached out and guided Eric by the hand to the seat next to her at the newsdesk. "Okay, Foreman, in thirty seconds, thousands of people will be watching us present our water tower adventure on the air!"

Eric gulped. "Thousands of people?"

Jackie gasped. She knew what was coming. _Oh no, there goes my show!_

Fez started to give the cue. "Okay Jackie, you're back on in three, two one..."

"Welcome back to all the news you really need to know, I'm Jackie Burkhart. At this time I am proud to debut a new segment for the show called On the Road. Each week, I will be traveling to a different location to present some of our favorite memories and what it means to us. Joining me each week will be your host, Eric Foreman. Welcome to the show Eric!"

Eric looked dead into the camera with his mouth agape.

"Eric, say hi to everyone."

Still no response. Jackie snapped at him and whacked his good shoulder. "ERIC!"

Eric did manage to squeak out "Hi" before falling off his chair.

Jackie attempted to recover. "Anyway, enjoy the first...and possibly last...segment of On the Road." They then cut to the piece of the trip to the Water Tower.

Jackie leaned over Eric, slapping his cheek repeatedly. "Eric...Eric! Wake up! Fez, get me a bucket of water."

Fez laughed as he approached with the filled bucket. "Aiiy, this will be an awesome burn!"

Jackie took the bucket and gave him a look. "This isn't a burn its purely for business purposes!" She then proceeded to dump the contents of the bucket onto her fallen friend.

"AAAH!" Eric jumped from the floor as the water hit him. "Jackie, why did you do that!"

"What did you expect? Was I supposed to leave you laying on the floor passed out in the middle of my show? I don't think so. Now what's the problem?" she asked awaiting a reply.

"I don't know, you said thousands of people would be watching me and I never thought of it like that before. I guess that would be hard to understand, huh?"

Jackie shook her head and sighed a little. "Eric, that's not hard to understand at all. I mean, what did you think I was thinking a couple of weeks ago during my first show?"

Eric shrugged "I have no idea."

He received a light chuckle in response. "Eric, I went through the exact same thing. The real funny thing is that _you_ were the reason I came back next time and was motivated to do the best I could. You told me what I needed to hear and I _trusted_ that you were right about it. Now I have no clue if this is the right job for you, I have to be honest about this. But, if you do not learn to _trust_ me, at least while we're working together, then we should stop this project right now, because it will never work otherwise. So will you at least try to _trust_ me, please?"

Eric gave a warm smile in return. "Well, it doesn't hurt to try anything once, right?"

Jackie helped Eric up and they took their respective seats again. "Okay, Eric. You're not here. This is not a television studio. This is your basement. We're sitting on that old, raggedy touch of yours and this is that coffee table in front of us. We're talking to Fez and we're doing a circle. Just picture yourself there."

Eric closed his eyes and took a relaxing deep breath. He looked her way and replied "Okay, I think I'm ready now."

Jackie smiled back at him. "Good, because we're back on in thirty seconds."

"Jackie?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

Fez then began his cue. "Okay, we're back on in three, two, one..."

_Two hours later..._

Eric and Jackie were sharing a table at The Hub having a lunch to mark the occasion of their first...or perhaps Eric's last show. Eric had a newspaper sprawled out as he was looking in the classified ads looking for a new occupation...should the need suddenly arise.

Jackie laughed at the sight of a frantic looking Eric Foreman scouring the job list as he chewed on his last remaining french fries. She shook her head and spoke. "Eric, I seriously thought you did fine after the tape of us at the tower aired. I'm sure once I talk to Bruce he'll understand and give you another chance next week."

"Yeah, only because you explained away my being wet after our tape aired by saying I was demonstrating what happened if you ever accidentally turned the big wheel while on the tower. It was pretty clever, so thanks for the attempted rescue."

Jackie nodded. "Of course."

"Oh who am I kidding? I have to find something in here because..."

The door opened to The Hub, interrupting Eric's thought as Bruce, the station manager, stepped inside. He looked around for a moment before locating the dining duo and approaching their table. "Jackie, Eric, I've been looking everywhere for you two."

Eric frowned. "Yep, I know I've done my last segment on your station and..."

Bruce interrupted. "Last segment? I certainly hope not! Ever since your piece ran today the phone has been ringing off the hook with praise for your segment. We haven't been flodded with this many phone calls in quite some time. I can't wait to see what you two come up with for next week. Keep up the good work!"

Eric sat there, his mouth agape in shock. "Th..thanks Bruce."

"No, you two. Tank you!" With that said, Bruce turned and proceeded to exit the Hub.

Eric looked across the table at a glowing smirk from his co-host. She then proceeded to shriek. "Oh my God! Eric, did you hear that! We're famous!"

She was met with look of indifference from Eric. "Jackie, we're not famous. Its just a local show anyway." He began to rise from the table.

"Oh, stop being so cynical Foreman! Now, I believe that you won't be needing this." Jackie exclaimed as she grabbed the newspaper from under his arm and threw it in the trash along with their lunch remains. "You realize what this means, right?"

"What?"

Jackie looped her arm through her partner in crime's. "It means you're stuck with me Foreman!"

Eric rolled his eyes. "Yeah. My wildest dreams have finally come true." he responded mockingly.

Jackie just squealed. "I know. Yours and everyone else's. Now, let's go celebrate by going to the basement and getting in the circle."

He grinned. "Okay. I guess you have to be right sometime."

"Shut up and drive Foreman."

_At the Foreman's..._

Eric and Jackie exited the Vista Cruiser and noticed the bulkhead door leading to the basement was wide open. The pair looked at each other.

"What's that all about Eric?"

"I have no idea. Let's go." They walked around to the entrance to the basement and proceeded down the bulkhead steps.

They were greeted by a pile of boxes next to the basement's exit and a smiling Red Foreman. _This can't be good,_ Eric thought to himself. Confused, he asked the obvious question " What's going on?"

Red stepped between Eric and Jackie and put an arm around each of them with a huge grin on his face. " Son. Loud One. These are the weeks dreams are made of. First Donna takes off for college, then Kettlehead leaves for an week in Chicago, and now...now..."

Eric asked with furrowed brow. "Now...what?"

Jackie asked as well. "Yeah, Mr. Foreman, what's going on?"

As soon as Jackie stopped speaking, Steven Hyde came through the basement door. Red responded with a grin. "There he is, the man of the hour. I'll let you give them the good news!" He then departed up the basement stairs.

Jackie was perplexed, not knowing what to think about this mysterious behavior being displayed, was the one to ask. "What's the good news Steven?"

Hyde took off his glasses off to look at his surrogate brother and his ex-girlfriend and he sighed. "Look, I'm glad you're both here to hear this together because this its the most difficult to tell the both of you this."

"Hyde, what's going on?"

"Foreman, Jackie, I'm leaving Point Place."

Jackie gasped.


	6. Chapter 6

**A Point Place Production**

**Chapter 6**

_Picking up right where we left off..._

Jackie gasped.

Eric's eyes grew wide. "Wha..what do you mean man? How..why is this happening? If you got in trouble with Red, I can go up and talk to him..."

Eric was interrupted by Hyde holding his hand up. "No Forman, this has nothing to do with Red."

"Then what is this all about?"

"Well, WB stopped by Grooves this morning. Kelso told me that you know about Angie. Anyway, he also came by to tell me that he was shutting down Grooves in Point Place in order to open a bigger store in Madison. The new Grooves is about twice the size so WB is foaming at the mouth about making more money. He named me the manager of the store, so here we are."

Eric couldn't believe what he just heard. "Wow. That was very sudden."

Hyde nodded in agreement. "These things usually are Forman." He then threw a glance towards his ex and saw silent tears streaming down her cheeks. "Jackie, this is the quietest I've ever seen you. Are you okay?"

Jackie looked up and answered shakily "I...I...I-...this isn't...I can't deal with this right now." she then turned and made her exit from the basement.

Eric started towards the basement door in an attempt to try to get Jackie to come back, but he felt a hand grab his shoulder instead. Surprised at the gesture, he replied "What are you doing man? Shouldn't you be going after her instead of standing here stopping me?"

Hyde let out a heavy sigh and shook his head. "Forman, she was my girlfriend for the past couple of years, and I know when to go after her and when to leave her alone. Believe me, when she says she doesn't want to talk right now, she means it."

What he just said made sense, but something still bothered Eric. "But this might be your last chance to say goodbye to her! You're okay with it ending like that?"

"I don't have a choice right now, man. When she wants to talk again she'll find me. I know how she thinks and now is not the time for discussion. Now can we drop this and will you help me out with these boxes."

Eric was reluctant to concede his point, but with a small sigh he turned and started reaching for the pile of boxes.

After everything was packed up, Eric found himself standing in front of the El Camino with his live-in brother. Hyde spoke "Well, I guess that's everything. Look, Forman, tell your mom that I'm sorry I had to leave while she was working tonight. I'm afraid that if she found out I was leaving, she may lock me in the basement and throw away the key."

Eric gave a nod and a small chuckle. "Yeah, you're probably right about that one. On the other hand, I'm sure Red could't help you pack fast enough."

"Are you kidding? I called the house from Grooves to tell him and I came home to the same pile of boxes at the basement door that you did."

"Figures. Look, no matter what anyone here did or said to you tonight, I just want to say that we're all gonna miss you. It won't be the same here without you."

Hyde waved him off. "Oh, enough of the sentimental crap Forman!"

"Oh, I get it! The translation of that in Hyde's language is I'll miss you guys too and I need a hug!"

"Forman, what have I told you before about..." he was interrupted by a pair of skinny arms being thrown around him. Rolling his eyes he replied "Okay, you have two seconds to get off of..." he then felt the arms let go.

"Its okay Hyde, that will be our secret how much you appreciate being loved." Eric was abruptly met with a fist to his shoulder.

"Well, I guess I'm out of here. I have just one last request man."

"What's that?"

"Just...make sure Jackie's okay for me. Since Donna left last week, she may need someone to talk to, you know?"

Eric gave an understanding nod and replied. "I'll try my best with that one."

"Thanks. And Forman?"

"Yeah?" Eric looked up and there was one of Hyde's famous bags with "treats" in it coming his way.

"Enjoy that one on me. Take care of yourself, man."

"Thanks. Same to you." With all that said Eric watched as his housemate of the past three years got in the El Camino and drove off into the night.

_Three days later..._

This felt _really _strange. It had been three days since Hyde's departure, and not just the basement, but the Forman household and the entire town of Point Place didn't feel the same to Eric. He sat on the basement couch by himself staring blankly at I Dream of Jeanie but not really paying attention to it. The events of the past couple of weeks had caught him off guard and was a total whirlwind to him. On any other Wednesday night in the past, people would come and go as they please, sharing the recent crises going on in their lives, or throwing sarcastic remarks towards whatever was on the television at the time. Now here he was, for the third night in a row, down in this room that was formerly overflowing with action, sitting by himself under the premise of watching tv but really just drifting in his thoughts.

He could even see how Hyde's departure effected his parents. Kitty was almost inconsolable upon hearing about her "adopted son's" departure. Red may have dreamed of this day for years, but the reality of the situation was much different. With no kids coming and leaving throughout the day, Kitty just went on about how the house seemed too empty for the past few days. During the times when she would either be baking for the kids or giving them advice on the latest situation they went through, she instead found that time useful to have another class of wine because there was "nothing else left to do". Red had just spent the last few days trying to limit his wife's wine consumption while also failing to think if a way to snap her out of this funk she was in. Eric just hid in the basement most of the time, as his parents were going through enough on their own.

As for his remaining friends, Fez was busy at the beauty salon most days and he seemed to finally become successful at getting customers' phone numbers and using them. Maybe when Kelso returned from Chicago next week, they would show up and things would return to something close to normal then. That only left Jackie, who Eric hadn't seen or heard from since that night. He could only imagine what she was going through, shutting herself in her house and...

Eric's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the basement door opening and a smiling Jackie Burkhart stepping through and hanging up her jacket.

"J-Jackie? What are you doing here."

"Well, hello to you too Forman! Scoot over." Eric shifted in the couch and immediately after the brunette took her seat, he felt a hand slap his shoulder.

"What the hell was that for?"

"Eric Forman, where have you been? Three days and not even a phone call? It's no wonder Donna took off to Madison!"

"But-...but Hyde said to give you space."

"Yeah, that was Sunday night! How much space do you think I need, honestly?"

"Well usually when some kind of life altering event occurs, I..."

"Lock yourself in your room for a week with no pants on? Yeah, I know, I've seen it in person Eric. Its pathetic, really."

"Okay then. Enlighten me oh, master of coping. Shine your great wisdom upon me. What could I do to avoid a week without pants next time."

Jackie shrugged. "I don't know. Different things work for different people I suppose. I just woke up Monday morning and went to school to start exam week."

"Exam week?"

"That's right Forman. While you're shut-in doing whatever it is you do in the morning around here, there's this place that some of us go; I know you've heard of it before. It's a place called school."

"Very funny Burkhart! Like I forgot that you still go to school! Anyway, you're saying you coped with Hyde's leaving by just focusing on your exams instead of thinking about Hyde."

"Yeah, that pretty much sums it up."

"That's not coping, that's just avoidance!" Eric remarked, pointing an accusing finger her way.

Jackie scoffed at this notion. "It is not!"

"Is too."

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

Jackie turned away for a moment, sighed heavily, and turned back towards her new co-host. "Okay Forman. Its your turn to enlighten me since you're so good at dealing with this subject."

"And how do I do that Jackie?"

"By telling me that happened with you and Donna that night she caught the bus."

"And how my telling you what happened that night help you?" (While Eric was speaking here, he didn't Jackie grab the camera on the coffee table and turn it on.)

"Well, since you seem to think you've started to move on from Donna, I just want you to tell me how you left things with her that night is any better than the way I left things with Steven a few nights ago."

It was Eric's turn to sigh heavily. "I have no idea. I guess it really isn't any better. In fact, it might be worse."

"Worse, how?"

"Well, she kept asking for forgiveness for wanting to go away to school and I wouldn't do it. Looking back now, perhaps I was being too selfish by not giving her piece of mind and wanting her to wait until I was ready for college."

"You may have been selfish Eric, but at least you were being genuine. You just acted upon what you were feeling and I know Donna will be able to look past a moment in which you were angry. So I'm guessing you regret the way you left things with her?

Eric took a moment to wipe the sweat off his eyebrows. "Yes. I do regret it." Eric sighed momentarily, before taking the camera and turning it towards Jackie. "And what about you? Is running out of here when Hyde was leaving the way you wanted to leave things with him?"

"No, it definitely wasn't."

"So what do we do about it?"

"I think you know the answer to that Forman."

Eric nodded. "We go to Madison and track them down to say what we need to say to them so we can move on."

"Very good Eric! We can leave in the morning." With that said, Jackie turned off the camera before facing him again, only he had a weird look on his face. "What?"

"Don't you have exams?"

"I took my last one this morning! All I have left to do is to graduate next week."

"Well, congrats Jackie, that's excellent."

"Thanks. Well, I should get going if we're going back "On the Road" tomorrow. I need to get my beauty rest if..."

She was cut off while getting up by his hand grabbing hers for a brief moment before letting go. She turned to him. "Look Jackie, its been a really strange few days around here, with no activity around here whatsoever. I won't even get started on how its effecting Mom and Dad up there. Do you think you can just sit here with me for a few more minutes? Even if we don't talk, can you just sit here and watch a little tv? Right about now, it would be the most normal thing about the past few days for me. Please?"

"I'd like that Eric." It was that simple and she re-took her seat.

They shared a smile, and turned to watch the episode of Gilligan's Island that was just starting.


	7. Chapter 7

**A Point Place Production**

**Chapter 7**

The next morning was a bit brisk for it being late spring, but Eric seemed that this day brought him a stronger sense of optimism than anytime throughout the prior couple of weeks. He was up early and was motivated to get packed up quickly and get going to Madison before his mom arrived home from her overnight shift at the hospital. He knew if he had to tell her he was taking off for a day or two to her face that it would break her heart and he couldn't bear to see that look in person. Of course, this won't be possible if they don't get going and soon. _Where is Jackie? _he thought to himself. _She's probably taking WAY too long with her hairspray and her make up and everything else getting herself ready. Not that its..._

"Eric! Get over here now! I'm dying over here!" Eric turned and there she was, at the end oof the driveway with what looked like _way_ too much luggage for a brief road trip. He did as instructed and took what looked like the heaviest item from her and carried it towards the Vista Cruiser.

"God Jackie, are you planning to dress everyone you see on this trip?" he grunted as he struggled with the heave suitcase.

"Oh, there aren't any outfits in there, that's just all my accessories! Do you think it's that easy to look as good as I do on a daily basis Forman?"

"I'm just saying that you probably don't need the entire contents of the health and beauty aisle at the drugstore to look good, that's all." _Did I just say that aloud? _Upon registering what he just said, a slight blush appeared on his face.

Jackie looked taken aback for a moment. "Eric Forman! That might have been the nicest thing you've ever said to me. Are you okay?"

"I'm not sure. Can I just call you the spawn of satan so we can move on and hit the road?"

"I'll let that slide just this once, geek boy. If you call me that again, I'll show your old yearbook pictures on our next show!"

"Fine, whatever. Let's just hit the road." Eric replied opening the passenger door to the Vista Cruiser and motioned for her to hop in.

Jackie responded with a small smile and said "Thank you" to the chivalrous gesture.

Eric went around the other side and hopped into the driver's seat and started the engine. He looked towards his television cohort and asked. "Are you ready to do this?"

"As ready as I'll ever be! You?"

"Same here. Let's do this!" He went to put the car into reverse but he was interrupted immediately.

"Eric, wait?"

He looked alarmingly over at his passenger. "What- what is it?"

"Well, I was just thinking why don't we get a shot of us about to leave that we can use as an intro on the show?"

"Good thinking. That's why you're the producer I guess. Now the camera's right here..."

"Um, Eric? I don't see a camera."

"Oops, it must still be in the basement. I guess I just forgot...Ow!" he responded as the brunette's hand swiped across the top of his head.

"You dumbass! You were about to leave without the camera! I enjoyed Steven's last stash too last night but I never would have let you have it if I thought you'd do something this idiotic! Go get it, now!"

Eric didn't like the glare he was receiving at the moment. Defeated, he just said "Yes ma'am." He then hopped out of the car and sprinted into the house.

_A few minutes later..._

Eric returned to the drive way, camera in hand and handed it through the passenger window to Jackie. What he didn't expect was a car coming up his was a frantic looking Kitty jumping out of it immediately. Eric gulped.

"Just what is the meaning of this? Why are there suitcases in your car? What are you doing Eric? Too many of you have left me already, I can't handle any more of this!" Tears were starting to form in her eyes during this rant.

Jackie immediately jumped out of the car and she greeted Eric with a scowl. "You mean you were just going to up and leave without telling her! Boy, you're batting a thousand at being a dumbass this morning, Eric!" Jackie opened her arm to Kitty, who accepted the comforting gesture, and started with her towards the house. "C'mon Ms Forman. We're going to go inside this house, and make the best breakfast ever assembled. Not that this dumbass deserves it, but it's the best thing I can think of right now."

"Why thank you Jackie! That's the most considerate thing I've had someone do for me in days." Kitty replied between small sobs.

Eric could only hang his head in shame and follow the pair of women into the house.

_In the Forman Kitchen..._

Red Forman was sitting at the kitchen table when his sip of morning coffee was interrupted by his sobbing wife and an upset looking Jackie Burkhart trying to console her. He flahsed an angry eye towards his son trailing behind. "Didn't I tell you to get out of here early! now look what you've done! You've upset your mother!"

Upon hearing this new revelation, Kitty turned to speak to her husband. "You knew about this too? And you supported this! Red Forman why I ought to..."

Eric interrupted the thought. "Look, mom. Don't blame him on this one. I was the one that took his advice only because we knew what type of week you've had and we thought you'd react the way you are right now."

Apparently this didn't settle anything as Kitty piped up again. "He was trying to follow YOUR advice! I don't even have the words!"

Red then turned towards Eric, shaking his hand. "Thanks a lot dumbass! Every time you try to make things better, you just make them worse, and another thing..."

"ENOUGH!"

The entire Forman clan turned to see the source of the interruption, Jackie, standing there with a single tear running down her face. "I can't take this anymore! I don't even care why everyone's fighting, I just know that I can't stand to see you guys like this! All of you know how things are from my family. Dad gets busted and goes to jail, and mom can't even bother to stick around to see me through high school. You guys are the family I have looked to when mine wasn't there. Mr and Mrs Forman, you have been so supportive like I was one of your own. that means a lot to me and I can't bear to see the three of you acting like my parents. So do you all think we can put all your differences aside so we can cook a good breakfast, please?"

The Forman family just looked at each other, looking shameful before Kitty was the one enveloping Jackie into a hug and spoke. "Of course we can do that sweetheart. Can't we boys?"

Red and Eric gave nods of approval, with both pars of eyes giving apologetic looks towards the hugging women. "That sounds great Kitty." was Red's reply.

With all that said, Red started reading his morning paper and Eric helped the women gather supplies to cook breakfast.

_An hour later..._

Breakfast was a big success, as everyone seemed to enjoy the homemade waffles and fruit salad, along with the company. Conversation topics ranged from Eric's work being done on Jackie's show, all the way to Kelso single handedly being responsible for keeping Kitty's job at the hospital secure. Kitty then made care packages with cookies and sandwiches inside for the pair to deliver to Donna and Hyde when they found them on their trip.

Kitty was getting done hugging Eric and Jackie when she spoke. "Promise me we'll do this again when you get back?"

Jackie smiled. "I promise. I'll even get Fez to tear himself away from his black book for a night. We'll have dinner!"

"What sounds wonderful dear. I'll start writing a list of stuff I can pick up from the store!" Kitty then sat at the kitchen counter and excitedly started jotting things down.

It was Red's turn to speak, directing his words at Jackie. "Remember loud mouth, if you catch this one (nodding at Eric) doing something dumb, be sure to get it on camera for me!"

Jackie laughed. "I promise, I will." she then went to hug Red as he rolled his eyes at the gesture.

Red then looked at Eric. "Take care of each other dumbass!"

Eric nodded in understanding. "We will." With all goodbyes out of the way, they exited the house and made their way towards the Vista Cruiser.

_Inside the car..._

Eric was looking at Jackie with small smile on his face. "What is it Forman? You're starting to creep me out here."

"I can't thank you enough for what you just did in there. It's about the first time since Hyde left that I really think that my mom's going to be okay."

Jackie just waved him off. "It was nothing Eric. I know you were talking about it last night, but I had no idea how hard they both were taking things."

Eric gave a light laugh. "C'mon Jackie! you know how long Red's been waiting for..."

"Eric!" Jackie gave him a stern look. "You know better. He just expresses himself differently than the rest of us."

Eric just sighed. "I suppose you're right. How is it you know all this?"

"Easy. Jackie Magic."

Eric shook his head. " I never believed in that before but I guess now's a good time to start."

Jackie awarded him with a heart melting smile and squeezed his hand. She then sighed. "Now that we have one issue dealt with I suppose its time to deal with the other one."

"You're right. Besides, we have a show to do. Next stop, Madison!" With that said, Eric started the Vista Cruiser, backed out of the driveway and hit the road.


	8. Chapter 8

**A Point Place Production**

**Chapter 8**

During the two hour trip out to Madison, both Eric and Jackie stayed relatively quiet. The breakfast with Red and Kitty they had before they left seemed to bring them both a sense of peace for the first time in days. Once the Vista Cruiser was a couple of blocks away, Eric pulled over and parked in the first space he could find.

Jackie seemed to notice that Eric was starting to tense up a bit. "What's the matter Eric?"

"Just nerves I guess. It's much easier to know what you intend to say in your head than when you actually have to say it. Does that make any sense?"

Jackie gave an assuring nod in response. "It actually does. I'm just glad its Donna we're visiting first. I still don't know what I'm going to say to Steven when the time comes."

Eric shook his head and gave a slight chuckle. "Wow. Jackie Burkhart is actually hoping to learn from my actions. I never thought I'd see this day."

"Yeah. Well, you can return from your ego trip at any time Foreman. You're still the biggest Star Wars geek I know."

"And you're still the loudest, most annoying cheerleader I know." The pair shared a look and a laugh.

Jackie spoke up. "Great. Now that we have that established, lets' go find Donna!"

Eric stopped in his tracks. "On second thought, I think I saw a hobby store a few blocks back and I've been looking for this collector's edition light sab…ouch!" he groaned as he felt an all too familiar hand whack the top of his head.

Jackie gave a stern look. "Man up and focus Eric! Just remember that only myself and everyone that watches my show will be watching you." She held up the camera and turned it on grinning ear to ear.

Eric rolled his eyes as he made his ways up the steps and to the door of the girls' dorm building. "Thanks Jackie. That's very reassuring."

"That's what I'm here for." She responded as they entered the building and approached the reception area where the students received their mail.

Eric cleared his throat and the mail room clerk looked up at him. "Hello. We're here to see Donna Pinciotti."

Eric nervously tapped his thumbs on the reception desk as the clerk looked for Donna's name on the dorm list. Jackie noticed the clerk look up and shoot Eric an annoyed look.

"Eric, stop that! You're being all twitchy on my show!"

He rolled his eyes. "Well, we just can't have that, can we?"

As Eric finished that thought, the clerk looked up from his list. "I'm sorry sir. It appears here that Miss Pinciotti does not have a dorm here. She lives off campus."

Eric was stunned. "That can't be right!" he remarked while trying to get a look at the student list.

"Sir, I'm afraid this list is confidential and not for your prying eyes."

Jackie tugged at Eric's arm as she started to guide him out of the room. "Thanks for your time." As they exited the building she saw the look on his face. "Don't give that look Forman. You go back in there and he'll call campus security and if we're really lucky, the police! Face it Eric, its over."

Defeated, Eric sighed heavily and sat down at a bench under a nearby tree. "Well, at least we have time now to check that hobby store for that light saber I've been looking for."

Jackie couldn't help but laugh. "Eric Foreman, what am I going to do with you? You just find out that you have no clue where Donna is and the first thing you want to do is go looking for light sabers? It's no wonder Donna left for school."

Eric shrugged. "Well, it would also help me take my mind off the fact that we wasted half a day getting out here and we still have no material to use for my segment on your show."

Jackie gave him a quizzical look. "Got any ideas?"

Eric gave a small smile. "I do, but I have a feeling it may not be your favorite thing to hear, but Milwaukee IS on the way back. We could see how this new Grooves is coming along and it will give you a chance to settle things with Hyde!"

Jackie just shook her head. "Eric, that's a dumb idea! I couldn't possibly…"

Eric cut her off. "C'mon Jackie; this can't be the same master of coping that came to my basement just last night and convinced me this was a good idea and served a purpose. I just think it's important since we started this trip that at least one of us goes home with a little bit of closure."

Jackie looked up from the spot on the ground she was staring at with a sigh. "I hate that you're right about this one. I guess I'm just scared that I won't know what to say just as much as you were when we got here."

Eric placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Jackie Burkhart not knowing what to say in a given situation? I don't buy it for a second! Besides, if you do freeze up…"

She looked him directly in the eyes. "Yeah?"

"I'll be there for you."

Jackie gave a sweet smile in response. "Thanks Eric."

Eric waved it off. "Eh. You'd do the same thing for me, right?" He said as he switched off the camera next to him on the bench.

She shrugged. "It's possible. Anyways, I do think there is one thing we should do before we hit the road."

"What's that?"

"I say we go check out that hobby store and see if they have that light saber of yours." she responded with a wink.

She could only laugh at the look of glee that spread across his face. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah now let's go!" Jackie responded as they got up and started back towards the hobby shop.

An hour later, they were back in the Vista Cruiser. Unfortunately for Eric, the hobby store did not contain the light saber Eric was looking for. However, it did contain quite the doll collection that Jackie took the time to admire.

Eric took the driver's seat and pouted. "Man, I can't believe I just spent an hour looking at dolls."

"Get over it, Foreman! You're just mad they didn't have your light saber."

"If I had to look at dolls, the least they could have done is have the Jungle Fighting GI Joe I've been looking for over a year to replace!"

"You mean the one that you had to amputate its foot?"

Eric was astonished. "You actually remember that story?"

"Unfortunately, yes. I guess I need to listen to the disco station to help me forget about that."

Eric waved his index finger. "No way."

Jackie made a sad face. "Please Eric? You're not the one who is going to confront their ex today, remember?"

Eric sighed. "Boy, this past hour really hasn't gone my way." He remarked. With that, he started the car and they were back on the road again.

_**90 Minutes later…**_

Following a brief stop for lunch and for gas and directions, the Vista Cruiser pulled up in front of Grooves and took a spot. Hyde really wasn't kidding about the size of the store! It looked about triple the size of the one in Point Place. Eric briefly chuckled about the irony of Hyde running a corporate chain music store, one of the very same things he rallied against for years. _The things you do for family._ He looked over and saw a pair of multi-colored eyes darting through him.

"You think this is funny?"

Eric was quick to deny her accusation. "No I was thinking of something completely different. Once we get this over with and you talk to Hyde, I'll let you know what it was."

Jackie opened the door slowly. "Okay, it's time to make a fool of myself on my own show!"

"Nothing you say to him is going to be foolish. I know whatever you tell him will come from the…"his thought was interrupted by a backhand to the stomach.

"Stop it Foreman. You're getting too soft on me."

"Very well, have it your way." Eric responded as he knocked on the front door of Grooves and turned the camera on.

A figure appeared at the door which appeared to be the curly haired friend and ex they were looking for. When the door swung open though, they were greeted with the figure of WB instead.

The only thing he seemed to recognize at first was the camera. "What did I say about no press until the grand opening?" He then was surprised when he looked at the person with the cameraman. "Oh. It's you, the funny girl."

Eric seemed offended. "WB, it's me. I'm practically Hyde's brother and you didn't even recognize me? What the hell?'

WB laughed. "Yeah, how could I forget the person who was attacked by a group of feminists the night I met him?"

Eric nodded. "Yeah, that's something I've been trying to forget."

WB agreed. "Same here trust me. Anyways, I bet the two of you aren't here to see me, huh?"

"Do you know where Steven is? Don't tell me you have him trapped in some room back there doing some meaningless…"

Jackie was interrupted by WB, gesturing to Eric. "No wonder your dad calls her the loud one. I hate to disappoint the both of you but Steven isn't here right now. He's moving into a place in Lake Mills that I got for him."

Eric sighed. "Lake Mills? That's almost an hour back in the direction we just came from!"

Jackie frowned. "Well, I guess we can call this trip a complete and utter failure. First Madison, now here and nobody is where they're supposed to be."

WB seemed sympathetic upon hearing about the previous events of the day that led them to him. "Well, if you guys are tired of traveling today, I have a cabin just outside the city by the lake you guys can stay in tonight. There's a key under the welcome mat so help your selves."

Eric seemed relieved at the thought of the driving for the day being over soon. "Wow! Thanks, Mr. Barnett. That's kind of you."

WB smiled. "You don't work for me, so just call me WB. Also, I hope you guys plan on coming back for the grand opening in a couple of weeks."

Eric replied "Yeah, hopefully that will work out for us. We'll see you later." WB waved goodbye to the pair as they turned back for the Vista Cruiser.

_Later that night…_

It had been a short trip to WB's cabin and it was nice to kick back and truly relax for the first time in what had been a very stressful day for the both of them. There wasn't much to the cabin by the lake. There was just a main room with a couch and a small bedroom. Eric claimed the couch and Jackie took the bedroom. After getting some Chinese take- out from a place just up the road, Jackie found a pair of folding chairs in the closet. She suggested they take the chairs outside on the small porch and look out at the moon and the stars over the lake. At that moment, Eric found a couple beers that WB left in the fridge which made things just perfect.

Eric let out a relieved sigh and turned to Jackie. "Boy, when we left this morning for Madison, I never pictured that we'd end up in a place like this."

Jackie agreed. "Tell me about it. All day long, we were always worrying about something. First it was your mom, then Donna and Steven. But being out here looking out at this makes everything we've been through seem worth it."

"I don't know Jackie. I was thinking about how small all of that seems right now. Moments like this just remind me of how cool the world can be sometimes."

"Of course the world is great Foreman. You just spent the entire day surrounded by the blinding light of my beauty." She looked at him with a smirk.

"Don't flatter yourself Burkhart." He countered with the same smirk.

Jackie changed the subject. "So what's the plan for tomorrow? Who should we look for first?"

Eric seemed to just have an idea. "You know what? We don't need to look for either of them. I think I'd rather have my mom be happy to see us than go on another goose chase, you know what I mean?"

Jackie smiled. "I think you meant lumberjack hunt instead of goose chase but I think I can agree with the rest."

"Hey, that was low!"

"I just saw my opportunity and I took it!"

"That wasn't fair! You caught me off guard."

Jackie yawned. "Well, I guess I better quit while I'm ahead."

Eric agreed. "Yeah, I've seen you when you haven't had your beauty rest. Now that's not a pretty picture."

"Eric? There is never a time when I'm not pretty, you should know better by now!"

"Since I'm tired and I like all my body parts where they are, I'm just going to agree with that for now. We can debate that again in the morning."

Jackie uncrossed her arms. "I'm going to let that slide for now Foreman! But that discussion isn't over." She then leaned down to where he was sitting and gave him a brief hug. "Good night Eric."

"Good night Jackie." They both shared a smile as she made her way into the cabin.

Eric took a sip of beer and let out a sigh of relaxation and spoke to himself. "What a day."

_An hour later…_

Eric had nodded off for a bit in the chair and had just come to. He had an idea as he got up and went to get the camera from the car. He made sure Jackie was asleep and set up the camera in front of the couch that would serve as his bed for the evening.

He turned the camera on and sat down before he started to speak. "Good evening Point Place. I know it seems that we were unsuccessful at every turn today, but I don't agree with that at all. Maybe we didn't get to resolve things with our exes the way we hoped, but I believe our accomplishment was greater than the one we set up to do today. I just spent an entire day with Jackie Burkhart and we both made it through in one piece. Even more was how much she helped me today. First, there was everything with my mom this morning, all the way through the visit to Madison. I needed her and she was there for me. Even though she's been coming to my basement for years, I feel like I met a part of Jackie Burkhart for the first time today. Point Place, I have to tell you, I like what I see so far. On the Road, I'm Eric Forman." He then reached for and turned the camera off.

_A couple of hours after that…_

Jackie emerged from her room and saw Eric sleeping on the couch. She couldn't help but chuckle at his snoring as she exited the cabin to retrieve the camera from the car. She took it in her room and started to set it up.

When she was ready she took a seat on the bed and spoke. "Hello Point Place. I know Eric said that we didn't get anything for this show, but I believe we did. I've never been alone with Eric for this long before and its surprisingly been… fun. I knew all along what a sweet and sincere guy he was, as I have confided in him several times in the past. Since I was alone with him filming today, I think this was the first time I really appreciated what he did for me. Like letting me control the radio the whole time we were traveling, not hurrying me through looking at the dolls at the hobby store, and motivating me to confront Steven. Eric today was the first time I have really realized and appreciated everything that you have done for me. For that, I say thank you. (She them blew a kiss into the camera.) On the Road, I'm Jackie Burkhart." She then turned off the camera and put it back in the car before going back to sleep.

The next morning, Eric and Jackie woke up and had a pleasant breakfast. There wasn't much conversation as each of them silently was thinking of the events of the day before. After breakfast they cleaned up, packed up, and within an hour were on the road back to Point Place.


	9. Chapter 9

**A Point Place Production**

**Chapter 9**

It was about an hour's drive back to Point Place as both Eric and Jackie both seemed content on enjoying the morning and listening to the radio, though the driver wouldn't be sorry to see the sounds of the disco station go soon. As the thought came out of his head, the Vista Cruiser passed the Welcome to Point Place sign.

Eric turned to his passenger. "So am I dropping you off or…"

Jackie cut him off. "Why don't we drop by your house first? I just want to see if your mom is okay after yesterday. Come to think of it, this might be the longest amount of time that none of us were there in years."

"It's barely been twenty-four hours since we left the house after breakfast yesterday. I'm sure Red can still barely contain his jubilation over the circumstances."

Jackie shot him a look of disbelief. "What did I tell you yesterday? It's all an act! I'm sure right now he's thinking about how much he misses…"as she was speaking, the car pulled into the driveway to the sight of Red Forman sitting in a folding chair with a beer and radio on the table next to him.

Before opening the door, Eric whispered "Oh yeah, it looks like he missed us a ton!" he was rewarded for this statement with a tiny scowl.

Red stood up as the car doors opened. "Aw, crap!" he looked up to the sky. "Apparently one full day of peace and quiet was too much to ask for!" before anyone could respond, someone flashed right by him.

Kitty Forman ran into the returning pair, practically knocking them over while enveloping the both of them in a hug. "My baby is home! Finally, my baby is home!"

Eric frowned. "Mom, we were barely gone for a day!"

"I know honey but it seemed like a week to me! Now let's go in and get the two of you fed."

"But mom, we had breakfast before we got back and…" he stopped after seeing the expression on her and Jackie's faced.

"What he meant Mrs. Foreman is we may have had breakfast already but we have plenty of room for lunch!" she finished glaring at Eric.

"Well I guess that settles it." Eric gave up as he followed the two women into the house.

When he entered the kitchen, he found Red already sitting down at the table with some piece of paper in front of him. "Sit down dumbass! You're in for quite the surprise."

Eric gulped as he sat down as whatever this was couldn't be good. Jackie also took a seat at the table as Kitty started preparing lunch. Red continued "Now about a week ago before you started working with loud girl here I called your school to request your transcripts. I did it so you'd get off your sorry ass and start applying to college. Well, they came in the mail yesterday and I suggest you pay attention to what it says under P.E.!" he slid the transcript his son's way.

A curious Jackie glanced over Eric's shoulder and her eyes grew wide as she read "I-N-C?"

Kitty called over from the counter. "I tried explaining to your father that that stands for incredible but he doesn't believe me for some reason."

Eric's head hit the table with a thud. "No mom, it stands for incomplete, which means…"

Red interrupted. "It means while this dumbass sat around here all year long, he never completed high school in the first place!"

Jackie clapped her hands happily. "Yes."

Eric looked up at her "I should have known you'd be enjoying this."

"Don't you see Eric? It's the perfect thing to have as the subject for your segment on next week's show! Plus, let's look at this in terms of me for a minute. I'm not going to be the only one in the group graduating next week! This is great."

Red piped up. "Remember Jackie, that's only if he passes." He said sending an amused look Eric's way.

Kitty then placed her son's lunch plate in front of him. "Well then, eat up honey then it's off to school with you!"

Eric sighed heavily as he muttered to himself. "What a nightmare."

_An hour later…_

As Eric stepped back into Point Place High School for the first time, the whole experience felt surreal to him. He changed in the locker room and made his way to the gym with Kitty, Jackie, and the camera in tow.

"Man, I can't believe I'm back in high school! Not only that, but it's for the only class I have absolutely no ability in whatsoever."

"That's not true Eric." Jackie called from behind the camera. "You could be in auto shop."

He just threw up his hands knowing she was right. As the coach made his way over and revealed his identity, his mouth grew agape.

Jackie identified the instructor. "Casey Kelso?"

Casey was fully dressed in the coaches' outfit, complete with whistle and clipboard. "Well, who do we have here? It's Jackie Burkhart! Who's that with you? It's little Forplay!" he reacted while rubbing the top of Eric's head messing up his hair.

Eric tried shaking his head free from Casey's hand. "Okay…okay…alright!" he exclaimed while finally freeing himself.

Casey looked behind himself and saw Kitty. "Mrs. Forman, you look younger every time I see you!"

Kitty laughed nervously "Oh…me too!"

"Say, have any of you seen Pinciotti around lately? I saw her a couple weeks ago with that blonde hair of hers. It made me totally regret breaking up with her. But the thing about me is I have the tendency to…"

Jackie tried to manage a guess. "Ditch…bail…run away?"

Casey shook his head. "No that's not…wait, did you say bail? That's it! I have a tendency to bail."

Kitty piped up. "Well Casey, what gives us the good fortune of running into your beautiful self today?"

"Oh, I'm the gym teacher."

Eric chuckled nervously. "Wow. I woke up this morning in one of the most peaceful places in the world, but by mid-afternoon, I apparently have stumbled into the gates of hell!"

"Yeah, when coach needed a replacement, he called the best quarterback he ever had."

Eric was incredulous. "I can't believe you get to decide whether I get to graduate or not!"

"I'll tell you what Forplay. Give me one pull up on the bar over there, and I'll tell the school you passed."

"One pull up, that's it?"

"That's it." He motioned towards the pull up bar. "C'mon let's get this done Forplay!"

As the group began walking towards the bar, Casey pulled Jackie aside. "Check it out Burkhart. All those eighth grade boys are checking you out."

Jackie turned to the group of admiring boys and waved. "Hi guys! I'm sorry to inform you that this is the closest you'll ever get to the prettiest girl you all will ever see!"

One of the boys shook his head. "Well, she was pretty until she started talking." he remarked, turning his attention back to his stretches.

"Hey! That wasn't very nice!" she exclaimed, then turned to see Eric still hanging from the pull up bar.

"Yep…I'm just getting warmed up here…give me a second."

Casey motioned for Eric to come down. "C'mon, let me show you how it's done Forplay!"

Eric tried to explain. "Well, it's much trickier than it looks and…" he was cut off by Casey performing multiple pull ups immediately. "Oh, looks like you've got the hang of it that's good. That's exactly what I was going for."

Eric and Jackie were distracted by Kitty fanning herself while watching Casey. "Oh my, is it getting hot in here or what?"

On that note, Eric turned to Jackie. "I think you better get my mom out of here before she faints."

Jackie agreed. "Good idea, I have to do some work for the show anyway. I'll leave the camera with you. I want a pull up on there by the end of the day!" she started guiding Kitty to the exit of the gym.

"I'll try my best, see you two later." he called after them.

_A little while later…_

Eric was still in the gym staring down the pull up bar. "Ok pull up bar, you're going down! Or better yet, I'm coming up!" he said while trying to psych himself up.

Casey decided he was tired of watching this act. "Okay Forplay, let's not pretend like this is going to happen. I'll tell you what. I'll sign your transcript if you answer one question for me."

"Name it." He responded as his eyes lit up.

"Just let me in on your secret. How does someone who can't even attempt a pull up have all these good looking women around him all the time? First it was Pinciotti, now it's Burkhart. I don't understand it."

"First of all, Jackie is just a business partner, nothing more. You know we couldn't stand each other before we started working together! Oh, about the other thing…"Eric suddenly burst into laughter while pointing at Casey.

When he got over his fit of laughter, he spoke again. "At least I'm not a dill hole strutting around the gym with my clipboard and whistle, thinking I'm all cool getting to teach high school gym to a bunch of morons!"

Casey seemed taken aback by this. "Huh. You know Forplay, I was just about to sign your transcript and all, but...but..."

"But what?" Eric asked with his arms crossed.

Casey then tossed his pen from his clipboard across the gym. "I seem to have lost my pen."

Eric stuck his index finger up in protest. "But you didn't lose the pen it's…" he was cut off by a whistle blown directly in his face.

Casey turned his attention to his class. "Okay class, it's now time for you all to learn how to play target."

Eric seemed excited for a moment. "Ooh, what's target?" he asked.

Five minutes later, he sure knew what target was. He stood on one side of the gym and the rest of the class was on the other. Round after round of dodge balls were fired his way, and he took the brunt of the majority of them. "Me and my big mouth." He muttered to himself as this continued for the rest of class.

_Later that evening…_

Eric dragged his sore self though the door to the kitchen door to the sight of Jackie and his parents already sitting at the table eating dinner. He decided to address Jackie first. "Are you paying rent here yet?"

Jackie gave a brief smile. "No, it's just that some parents are grateful when you actually pay attention to them. Also, I'm waiting to witness that pull up of yours so I can get the camera back to the station."

He frowned before giving the news. "Well, you're going to have to wait for that. All I have on there for you today is a very hurtful game of target."

Red got curious. "Wait a minute Eric. Does this mean that you were the target during the game?"

"Yep."

Red grinned. "Well, it looks like I have my evening of entertainment planned." Kitty shot Red a look. "Sorry, but it's Eric as the target! That's funny!"

Eric sighed. "It's just not fair! I was just starting to do something productive too." He looked in Jackie's directly and was greeted with a friendly smile. He then continued "Now, through no fault of my own, I'm going to have to go back to summer school because Casey's going to fail me for sure!"

Jackie spoke. "Wasn't the last time something was no fault of your own when you ran over Donna's cat?"

"Well, yeah."

"Eric! That turned out to be entirely your fault!"

Kitty then turned to her son. "Sweetie, what were you doing to my…oh, I mean…the world's Casey? Were you being fresh?"

Eric wore a guilty look on his face. "Maybe."

Kitty stood up in a huff. "You see what I've done now? Now I have to get my makeup on and go talk to Casey!"

Jackie stopped her in her tracks. "Don't be silly Mrs. Forman! You shouldn't nave to bother putting on all that makeup when you have the most naturally pretty girl right here with you! I'll go talk to Casey. See you later! She then exited the house oblivious to the irritated look Kitty shot her.

Red just shook his head. "And you let them eat our food!" it wasn't very long before the look originally intended for Jackie was being directed his way. Red just shrugged "What? It's true."

It was Eric's turn to shake his head. "Oh, dad, no." Kitty then left the kitchen in a huff.

"It's okay son. She'll just drink it off later."

_Later that night…_

Eric was down in the basement when Jackie burst through the door in the middle of Three's Company. "Eric, you would not believe what Casey wanted in order for you to pass! He wanted me to go on a date with him!"

He looked shocked at the news. "What!" after contemplating it for a moment he smiled and spoke again. "Oh, thank you Jackie, thank you so much!"

Jackie felt a twinge of anger. "You mean you would be all right with that. Passing high school because I went out on a date with Michael's creepy brother." She said while folding her arms.

Eric shrugged. "Well you know Jackie, if you really cared for me and our working together and all. Besides, it might help you get over Hyde."

Jackie let out an angry shriek before addressing him. "You can really be such a dumbass sometimes Forman!" she then bolted out the basement, slamming the door behind her.


	10. Chapter 10

**A Point Place Production **

**Chapter 10**

Eric woke up the next morning with the knowledge that he had a full day ahead of him. He had to stop by the TV station in the morning to help put his segment together for the show which was tomorrow. He had hoped that Jackie had some good news for him upon his arrival there or else it would be straight from the station to the high school for more P.E. fun with his good friend Casey. He sighed at the thought as he quickly plowed down a bowl of cereal for breakfast and booked it to the Vista Cruiser. Before he could get anywhere, Red Foreman appeared from the garage.

Eric hated the look he was wearing on his face as he approached the car. He rolled down the window and greeted his dad with a monotone "Okay dad, what did I do this time?"

"You never cease to amaze me how much of a dumbass you truly are! I ran into the Loud One down at the coffee shop earlier."

Eric gave a light chuckle. "The last thing that girl needs in the morning is coffee!" he said before another thought entered his mind. "Ooh! Please tell me that she was on a breakfast date with Casey!"

Red scowled. "No, and not that this is much different from normal, but she's not thrilled with you right now."

Eric shook his head. "I don't understand why she won't do it. This stupid gym class is separating me from the rest of my life."

"And you're lucky that this car door is separating my foot from your ass! Now I know the two of you were never really great friends, but since you've started working with her it's become clearer that she inexplicably cares about you! Now you go find her, get down to the gym, and earn her respect back before she fires you!"

Eric sighed heavily. "You're right, I have to do this. It's just like that time when Luke…"

Red waved his hand. "Oh, don't give me that Star Trek crap again."

Eric sarcastically spoke. "Dad, Luke's in Star Wars, duh!"

"Don't make me open that door."

"Okay, okay. Just is there any trick to doing a pull up?"

"Yes. You pull. Up."

"Right. Well, see you later dad." With that, he backed the Cruiser out of the driveway.

_Meanwhile…_

Jackie entered the television studio wearing a scowl on your face as the encounter the previous night didn't leave her in the best of moods. It was bothersome to her that that was the way Eric saw her. Just another girl to do his bidding if needed. She thought that they might have had some sort if breakthrough during their overnight trip, but is must have just been her imagination. From now on, Eric Forman was just a co-worker. A co-worker she wasted to avoid at the moment, which is why she called Fez to help with the editing as he was sitting looking at some of the video taken during the Madison/Milwaukee trip.

"Jackie, I've missed you. Not as much as I miss Donna's closet, but still."

That brought a brief smile to her face before frowning again. "It's nice to see you too Fez. It's kind of strange that everyone's going their own way."

"Yeah, Kelso's in Chicago visiting Brooke and the baby and I don't have to tell you about Hyde and Donna. All that leaves is…"

"That dumbass! I don't know why I thought we could work together in the first place."

"Ooh. Something tells me something's bothering you. Since I've been working in the beauty shop you'll find that Fez is good at advice. Tell me what happened."

"Well, it's like this. Eric is such a weakling that he never completed gym class and therefore still hasn't graduated high school. Now the big thing is that the gym teacher at the school is now Michael's older brother Casey."

Fez gasped. "Casey Kelso? He and Eric can't stand each other!"

"That's part of the problem. The twitchy one couldn't resist being a smartass as usual so now Casey won't sign his transcript unless…I go out on a date with him!"

"So Casey being like that is Eric's fault?"

"No, but Eric being dumb and encouraging me to take the date is all his fault! I thought since we started working together that Eric saw me as something more than a pawn to get what he wants. I thought he saw me as a…dare I say it as a friend."

Fez smirked. "Wow, I never thought I'd see the day you gave a damn what Eric thought of you." He shifted his attention to the tape he was editing and fast forwarded to a particular spot on the tape. He then stood up. "Just do me a favor and watch this section of the tape for me."

Jackie scowled when the image of Eric alone sitting on the couch he slept on during their night in the cabin appeared in front of it. "Like I want to watch anything he has to say."

"Just do it, trust me. It's too good to just leave out of the show tomorrow. I have to get back to the beauty shop! I just love the sound of pretty ladies calling the name of Fez!"

Jackie folded her arms. "Fine, but I'm only doing it as a favor to you! But, you have do ne a favor in return."

"Which is?"

"Go visit Mrs. Forman when you get a chance. I get the feeling she's missing all the company."

"Are you kidding? Fez wouldn't miss the bridge night with Ms. Kitty and her friends! Now get to that tape." He then left he studio waving goodbye to her.

After a very deep sigh Jackie finally gave in. "Oh, fine." She huffed to no one in particular and let the tape play.

_A couple minutes later…_

"…I feel like I met a part of Jackie Burkhart for the first time today. Point Place, I have to tell you, I like what I see so far. On the Road, I'm Eric Forman." Jackie stopped the playback as a tear flowed down her cheek. She then looked up when she heard a knock at the door.

"May I come in?" Eric asked and she nodded for him to come while standing up.

Eric began to speak as she approached him with the tear still on her face. "Look Jackie, I'm really…" he was taken aback that she was approaching him so quick that he thought he was going to get punched. "Wait a sec, please don't kill…" before he could speak again, Jackie enveloped him into a big hug.

A few moments later, she released him and Eric stood there stunned. "Huh?"

Jackie gave him a sweet smile. "Just don't worry about it Eric. Also, be sure to thank Fez later."

Eric was confused. "Fez? What am I missing here?"

Jackie shook her head. "It doesn't matter, Eric, especially since I'll do it."

His eyes grew wide. "Do what?"

"I'll go on a date with Casey. I know how much graduating means to you and I'm also sure that…"

Eric cut her off. "Jackie, no! I never should have asked you to do that to begin with. But it's only natural of me since I'm such a dumbass and all."

"You're not a dumbass!"

"Well either way, right now this dumbass is going down to the gym right now, he's going to do a pull up, and he's going to graduate high school! Now are you coming with me to get this on camera or what?"

Jackie ran to get the camera wearing a huge grin. "I'm in!" with that, they exited the studio and took off down the street in the Vista Cruiser.

_A while later…_

Eric and Jackie entered the gym and saw Casey standing by the rope. Before Eric could do anything, Jackie tugged his shirt to get his attention. "Eric, are you sure about this?"

"Damn right I am!" He then snapped his fingers to get Casey's attention. "Hey, buddy, you're not taking my friend out! Guess why? 'Cause I'm going to pass this class using my own strength!"

"Jackie tugged at him again. "Eric, are you absolutely sure about this? 'Cause I could…"

Eric cut her off. "Damn it woman got out of the way. I'm doing a pull up!"

"Looks like somebody had their Wheaties this morning." Casey interjected.

Eric disagreed. "No I had Frosted Flakes which gave me grrrr-eat strength!" This drew looks from both Jackie and Casey. "Alright, that wasn't funny. Anyway, you guys better stand back since Jackie, you know I'm likely to be twitchy and all." Jackie nodded in agreement as Eric jumped up onto the bar.

From the ground Jackie said "You can do it Eric!" from behind the camera.

In response Casey remarked "Never gonna happen Forplay!"

As Eric was on the bar the image of Casey calling him Forplay kept going through his head. The more he thought of it the angrier he got. As he began to pull he grunted" It's…not…Forplay…its…Forman!" surprisingly, when he opened his eyes, he was looking down from above the bar. When he made this discovery, he dropped from the bar immediately.

Jackie put down the camera and clapped "Oh my god, yay! You did it! We actually get to graduate together!" she then hugged him.

"I'd hug back, but I can't feel my arms!"

Casey then looked toward Jackie. "So when are we going out?"

Eric piped up. "Stay away from my friend Casey Kelso! Or should I say, Casey...Smellso!"

"Smellso? That really hurts Forman. I'm just going to sign your transcript because I don't want to hang out anymore!" With that, Casey left the gym.

Jackie shot a big smile at Eric. "I'm so proud of you! What are we doing to celebrate?"

"You and me, lunch at the Hub?"

"I thought you'd never ask!" Jackie declared as they left the gym.

_At the Hub…_

After they ordered, they were talking about the day while waiting for their food to arrive.

"Well Eric, something happened today that I never thought possible."

"Yeah, I know. I did a pull up!"

"Okay, two things."

"What was the other?"

"You called me your friend in public. Twice!"

Eric smiled to himself. "I did do that, huh?"

"Yeah, well, it will be fun graduating together next week and all."

"I'll be looking forward to it."

"Me too."

They were sharing a smile when a familiar voice interrupted their train of thought.

"Hey there, hi there, ho there!" they looked up to see Bob Pinciotti greeting them.

Eric spoke and Jackie smiled. "Bob… uh, what are you doing here?"

"What do you think?"

Eric nodded in understanding. "Right…restaurant…food…lunch."

Jackie figured she should just ask and get it over with. "So how's Donna?"

Bob perked up. "Oh, she's doing great! I got off the phone with her a little while ago. She's looking forward to coming back for your graduation next week Jackie."

Eric almost choked. "She's coming…next…week?"

Bob nodded "Yeah. She and Hyde are looking forward to it."

The color drowned from Jackie's face. "What? Wait…Steven's coming too!"

"Of course he is! It only makes sense since they're sharing a house in Lake Mills. You know, equal commutes and all."

Jackie and Eric spoke at the same time. "They're WHAT?"

Just then, Bob was called to pick up his take out order. "Well, I hate to hit and run, but it looks like that's exactly what I'm going to do. See you next week!" he then left the table as the waitress brought them their orders.

Jackie just stared at the food and then Eric and he looked just as pale as she imagined she was. "Eric, I don't think I'm hungry anymore."

"Me neither."


	11. Chapter 11

**A Point Place Production**

**Chapter 11**

_Eric today was the first time I have really realized and appreciated all that you have done for me. For that, I say thank you. (She then blew a kiss into the camera.) On the road, I'm Jackie Burkhart._

The focus shifted back to Jackie sitting at the news desk. "Next week On the Road, we have the story of a scrawny slacker who must pass gym class in order to graduate high school. Take it from me; you don't want to miss that one. Until next week Point Place, this has been Jackie Burkhart with all the news you need to know."

Fez instructed from his position behind the camera. "And…we're clear."

Jackie had a long sigh of relief that another successful broadcast was in the books. She noticed her skinny friend/business partner and a trace of a tear in his eye. She got up close and examined it. "Is that a tear?" she teased. "You mean something I said actually made Eric Forman weepy?"

Eric straightened up quickly "No way, woman! Your words have no effect on me. I'm a man!" he demanded.

Jackie laughed and started to poke him in the side. "Yeah, a very….skinny…twitchy…did I mention ticklish…almost man?"

Eric was trying so escape the pokes as they rapidly came. "Hey…cut that out." He said as he laughed as he wasn't successful dodging everything she threw at him.

As that display was going on, Fez finished his work with the camera and took notice. "Will the two of you stop it already? All these years we all wanted the two of you to get along. Now that you are I'm really beginning to rethink this whole thing!"

Eric smirked. "Uh, oh Jackie. I think our friend Fez is feeling left out and needs a little something from us!" he proclaimed with a sing-song tone.

Jackie nodded in agreement. "What does he need Eric?"

Eric outstretched his arms and started at his foreign friend. "Fezzie needs a hug!"

Jackie ran simultaneously to the other side of him as they met at him on opposite sides as they both enveloped him in a hug and said "Awwwww!"

Fez was starting to feel a bit smothered. "Aiiy! Get off me! You two are borderline psychotic!" he snapped while finally freeing himself from their grasp. "That's it! I'm really starting to regret showing you that tape Jackie!"

Eric moved his attention to Fez. "But then you wouldn't have the pass to Funland I got you as a reward. Remember, all those rides and cotton candy!"

Fez lit up at the thought. "I see the day this happens, and it is glorious!"

Jackie then spoke, petting her arm around Fez. "But for right now, how about you let Eric drop you back off at the beauty shop."

Fez shook his head and started swiftly towards the exit. "And spend another minute in a confined space with the two of you? I'd much rather walk thank you! Good day!"

Eric called out. "But Fez, we were…"

"I said good day!" With that, Fez was gone.

The two remaining at the station shared a laugh. "Well, that was interesting." Jackie thought aloud.

Eric sighed. "Well, this is just the beginning. Graduation is in two days and you know who shows up then."

Jackie also let out a sigh. "Yeah, but the day had to come sooner or later, you know? Besides, I feel I'm kind of ready to talk to Steven, you know?"

Eric nodded. "Yeah, I think I'm getting there with Donna as well. It's too bad we don't have any work to do between now and then. It helped take my mind off all that."

"Yeah, that makes me kind of sad too. We do have graduation rehearsal tomorrow."

"Yeah, I finally get to show up for the actual ceremony. To think we all missed it last year because Fez ran off and married my sister of all people!"

"That was definitely one for the Twilight Zone! So are we doing The Hub on the way home?"

Eric confirmed the plans. "Yeah, just to keep busy for a while longer. I feel bad though, I was going to buy Fez a soda for putting up with us and being a good boy."

Jackie had a long laugh at this one. "It's okay. We'll stop by the beauty shop later. For now, let's go." Eric followed her out of the studio.

_A day and a half later…_

Eric woke up and looked over at the clock as it read 10 AM. It wasn't like his parents to let him sleep this late but this was ordinary day. He figured they were happy that he was in his bed on his graduation morning as opposed to last year's debacle. Besides, his mom was so excited that almost everyone was going to be home for the weekend that she spent the entire day cooking and baking so there would be enough food for everyone. Kelso was going to show up a couple days later as he was busy in Chicago bonding with Betsy. It was probably the right place for him to be after Angie dumped him and the failed "Slut or Not" idea. He only saw Jackie briefly at the rehearsal as she was spending a little time at home since her mom was around. Besides, it gave the both of them a little time to think.

Eric got out of bed and quickly spruced up and got dressed. Graduation wasn't until 4 so he had plenty of time to hang out until then. He made his way down stairs and into the kitchen.

He reached for the coffee and he started pouring himself a cup when he heard a voice coming from the kitchen table. "Wow. You're actually looking pretty sharp for a two time graduate!"

Eric looked up and she was there. "Oh…hi… Donna. Um…I'm actually really glad to see you."

Donna smiled back at him from the table. "Yeah…same here."

"So where's Hyde?"

"Oh. He dropped me here and went to go find Jackie. Your mom forced Red to take her shopping for more groceries. She said I could wait for you so here I am."

Eric processed what was said and had a thought. "Well, if we're going to have some big talk, you know there's only one place to do it." Donna nodded in understanding and stood up to follow Eric out the door.

A minute later, they were both sitting atop the Vista Cruiser. "Ahh. This feels much more appropriate." Eric said with a sad smile.

Donna took a deep sigh. "I don't even know where to start Eric. I'm so sorry that I had to skip town on you like that. As far as the funding went for school it was pretty now or never. So I didn't really have a choice in the matter."

Eric nodded. "I get it, Donna. These last few weeks have made me realize that a lot of things are going to be changing for everybody, and really fast too. I know I never saw any of them coming, but that's the way life is I suppose. The one thing I do know about my life is that you were pretty much my first everything. My first love, my first…well, you know, and even my first fiancé. The point is, I can't picture my life without you in it in some capacity."

A silent tear streaked down Donna's face. "You know I feel the same way right? Believe it or not, I've really missed you over the past couple of weeks. I've missed everyone, really. But even though we're headed in separate directions, it doesn't mean that there's a second where you won't be an important part of my life. Our childhoods are so connected and I realize that that will stay with me, no matter where either of us winds up."

Eric gave her a strange look. "Um…does this mean we're actually growing up?"

Donna laughed. "Sad, but true, I think it does. So are we okay? Friends?"

"Forever." Eric confirmed as they kissed each other on the cheek.

Eric took a deep breath and spoke. "So does this mean that I can ask about you living with Hyde now?"

Donna laughed. "Relax, you dill hole. The house has four bedrooms so you and everyone else can get your minds out of the gutter. It's just much easier than living in those crammed dorms, you know?"

"Yeah, well after I thought about it rationally I figured that was the case. If W.B. bought it I figured it was probably pretty spacious, you know?"

Donna smiled. "More spacious than a cabin just outside of Milwaukee with a loud midget, perhaps?"

Eric chuckled. "Oh, you heard about that, huh? I have to say, the couch is rather comfortable to sleep on."

"So I guess it's my turn to ask the question I've been thinking about. What's going on with you and Jackie?"

"Nothing. It's strictly a working relationship, that's all."

"Are you sure? Because I've been hearing that…"

Eric waved her off "Donna, really. It's nothing."

"Eric. It's okay if…"

He cut her off shaking his head again. "Donna, it's just a business arrangement. It's not like it's going to last much longer with us graduating and all."

Donna opened her mouth to speak again, but just then Red and Kitty pulled up with a car full of groceries. The door opened and Red spoke up. "Just because it's your graduation day doesn't mean you don't have to help your mother. Oh, good you're here too Donna! You can help with the heavy stuff!" he ordered as he made his way inside.

Kitty was so excited to have the company. "Come inside Donna and help me bake these graduation cookies! That way you can tell us all about this new school of yours." Eric and Donna then got the remaining groceries and proceeded into the house.

_Meanwhile…_

Jackie took her cap and gown to the television station with her while working on notes for the following week's broadcast, as it seemed to be the only thing to take her mind off of all that was going to happen this weekend. Just as she completed her thought, she heard the station door open. "Eric, I thought I told you yesterday that I need to be…

"It's not Eric." She looked up to see Hyde standing in the middle of the room.

"Steven!" she cried as she ran to embrace him.

After a moment, Hyde motioned for them to sit on the desk. "So are you ready to talk now?"

"Yeah, I'm ready."

Hyde continued. "Okay, here it goes. You have to understand Jackie that I had no idea about the store in Milwaukee until the day I moved and W.B. sprung the news on me. I got home and Red was all too eager to help me pack."

Jackie replied. "You know that they've all missed you like crazy over the past couple of weeks. No matter if you're reunited with your dad or not, you are their second son."

Hyde nodded. "I know. Anyway, I did do some thinking about us over the past couple of weeks. The entire reason we broke it off a couple of months ago was that I couldn't promise you that there was a chance that we'd be married someday soon. Now if you asked me that same question five years from now, maybe my answer would be different. But I'm just getting my own store right now and W.B. needs me. You'll always be special to me but the timing just isn't right at the moment."

Jackie sniffled a bit as she tried holding tears back. "I realize that now Steven. I'm just now discovering something that I'm talented at. If I keep going with this, who knows how far I can go, you know? The past couple weeks have made me see pretty much everyone in the group is going through the same thing." She took a deep sigh before continuing. "Michael may have been my first love, but you were my first mature relationship, Steven. I know I wouldn't have the courage to do what I'm doing now if it wasn't for you. So for that, I want to say thank you." She leaned over and slowly kissed his cheek. After which she looked at him with a smile and silent tears streaming down her cheeks. "Besides, you'll always be my puddin' pop." She declared.

Hyde looked around and put his finger in front of his mouth. "Ssshhh! Quiet down with that Jackie, we're still in a public building! Anyone could walk in and hear that, you know? I guess the only have left to say is that even though you will sometimes annoy me to no end; there will never be a time where I won't be looking out for you."

Jackie grabbed his hand. "I appreciate that Steven."

After a moment, Hyde let go and asked another question. "So how's it been going with Forman?"

Jackie smiled. "Oh, he's just Eric, same skinny, twitchy Eric. We work well together but business is business, you know?"

"So how was W.B.'s cabin?"

"It was great scenery with the lake and all but Eric is such a loud snorer, I could hear him even with the door closed to the bedroom."

Hyde agreed. "Tell me about it. Try two floors down, through the vents!"

Jackie laughed. "So what's it like living with a lumberjack anyway? Are there some woods surrounding the lake so she can cut down some trees when she gets home from school?"

"I don't know about that but I do know that Kelso was bugging me to install a secret camera in her room."

"That's no surprise! So…you're in different rooms."

Hyde shrugged. "Of course we are! Although given the opportunity…" he was interrupted by Jackie whacking him on the arm. "It's just nice to have a familiar face there at the end of the day, you know?"

Jackie grinned. "Yeah, I know what you mean."

Hyde then stood up. "So, do you need a ride to this graduation thing or what?"

"I thought you'd never ask." She replied, accepting Hyde's help up and grabbing her cap and gown on their way to the El Camino.

_An hour later…_

There was a good sized cheering section on the bleachers as Red, Kitty, Pam Burkhart, Bob, Donna, Hyde, and Fez all shared a row as the graduated all sent up go receive their diplomas. At the right time, their names boomed over the PA system:_ Jacqueline Beulah Burkhart! _Also, a couple of minutes later, _Eric Albert Forman!_ Kitty was a wreck as she was finally able to witness her son getting his diploma this year.

_An hour after that…_

The graduates said goodbyes to their families and friends as a brief party was thrown by the school for the class after the ceremony. Eric was looking for anyone he knew since this was never really his class as someone tapped his shoulder.

He turned around to see Jackie grinning ear to ear. "Hey."

"Hey yourself."

"Long time, no talk, huh?"

Eric rolled his eyes. "Really, Jackie? It's barely been twenty-four hours!"

She just shrugged it off. "So…how was your day?"

He shrugged back. "All right. Yours?"

"Okay, I guess. I mean, we did just graduate." She remarked.

"Yeah, we did. Didn't we?" they shared a smile.

Just then, the DJ started playing Parliament's _We Want the Funk._

Jackie screamed, nearly knocking Eric over in the process. She took his hand and led him towards where everyone was dancing in the middle of the field. "C'mon Eric, we're dancing!"

"No I'm not!"

"Yes, you are"

"No I'm not!"

"Yes, you are."

"No I'm…oh, fine." she laughed in victory and he sighed in defeat as they started dancing.

_Meanwhile, in the parking lot…_

Donna and Hyde stood in front of the El Camino as they watched Jackie lead Eric to the middle of the field. As they began dancing Hyde turned to Donna and asked. "You think they'll be okay?"

Donna smiled in response. "Trust me. I think they'll be just fine."

Hyde gave an accepting nod. "C'mon let's go back to the Formans'. We'll meet them back there later."

With that, they got in the El Camino and drove out of the parking lot.


	12. Chapter 12

**A Point Place Production**

**Chapter 12**

"And I'm proud to say that here in front of you today is living proof that one of the scrawniest, twitchiest, most skinny person in this town actually can perform a pull up! I also don't think there's any debate as to why he was able to do it…it was all because I was there to inspire him!"

Eric cringed and tapped his partner's shoulder. "Actually, Jackie it was because…"

Jackie just waved him off. "Silence, Eric! On my show everyone loves and is inspired by me! I was so happy I was able to lend such inspiration to the needy. So remember if you're a weakling and have no idea how to do a pull up, just watch this show again and think of me!"

Eric sighed and rolled his eyes. "Life lessons to live by." He muttered.

Jackie continued. "Until next time Point Place, this was all the news you need to know, I'm Jackie Burkhart."

The pair at the desk waited for the signal from Fez. "And…we're clear!"

Jackie stood up proudly. "So, what did you guys think?"

Eric shared a look with Fez and knew how he had to answer. "You see Jackie, you want me to say that it was like, the best thing you've ever done. But, since I'm not Kelso when he was dating you, I'm going to give my honest opinion. It was just a…tad self-promotional, wouldn't you say?"

Jackie let out a sigh. "Just you wait Eric! The phone to the station is going to be ringing off the hook requesting that they air this over and over again! What do you think Fez?"

Fez shook his head. "Damn woman, you're crazy. Besides, I have my mind on the camping out we're going to do tonight! Last time we did this I did it with…"

Eric winced and put his hand up. "Please, don't remind me of such nightmares. Especially since you weren't the first one to see my sister naked that night." He cringed as he said the words.

"And another thing Fez, I wouldn't be going anywhere near Red until well…well after the trip. The memories for him are just too terrible." Jackie added.

Fez just grinned at the thought. "Yes, but what a way to go! Besides, if Laurie didn't marry me, Fez would not be here to operate your precious camera."

As Jackie shrugged in agreement, Eric had a thought. "Yeah, but this year is different. I mean, this time we've all graduated, and most of us have jobs and obligations going on. This really could be the last night the whole group is together for a while."

Jackie tilted her head. "Eric Forman, you're not getting all sentimental on us are you?"

Eric was quick to deny. "Me? No way. I don't get…"

His thought was interrupted by Fez coming over and embracing him. "Oh, come here you big softy. It's okay, I will still be at the beauty shop and there still be plenty of hot women there so you can come in and…"

While the foreign one was explaining this, Eric tried to protest. "Fez, seriously get off me!"

Jackie was just amused by the scene before her, taking it all in when Bruce emerged from his office. He walked over next to her and took in the sight as well. As he cleared his throat, Eric finally broke free from Fez's grasp.

"Apparently I came at the wrong time." Bruce observed.

Eric began to vehemently deny. "No…it's not like that at all…Fez just gets really clingy sometimes."

Fez started to pout. "Oh, please I wasn't the one going on about last…"

Bruce interjected himself. "Will the both of you please shut up? I just came to tell Jackie here that I need to see her in my office before she leaves."

"Will do!" she replied with a smile.

"Good, now I can get back there myself. I think I'll have less of a headache there." He then started back towards the office.

Jackie motioned towards the both of them. "See guys, more proof that people think you both are strange, and that they love me!"

Fez stomped her foot. "I have no more time for your insults. I must pack for tonight and stop by the store for…um….extra stuff…just in case…"

Eric folded his arms. "Just in case of what?"

"Uh…nothing…good day!" Fez replied nervously as he made his way towards the exit.

"Fez, explain to me what you're..."

"I said good day!" with that, Fez bolted out the door.

Eric's attention turned back to Jackie. "So…Bruce is finally going to come around and cancel us after all."

Jackie swatted him in the on his shoulder. "Eric Forman, take that back. Besides, it's all you've got right now too, as far as I can see."

Eric sighed. "Yeah, well, that's why I'm going to stop by the school and see Mr. Bray. Since Red spent my college money, I have to find other means to pay for additional schooling, so I figured that's a good place to start."

She gave an understanding nod. "Ooh. You better not tell him that Donna's home for the weekend. Do you remember how many times we caught him driving up and down the street that time?"

"Yeah, we don't want to get Bob all mad and someone will be ending up with a restraining order in that whole ordeal."

"Okay, I'm ready to stop talking about ugly things right now! Bob, Mr. Bray, and restraining orders are quite enough as far as that goes."

Eric just shrugged. "So, do you need me to wait for you to give you a ride?"

Jackie waved him off. "Nah, I'll just walk. You've got important stuff to do anyway. I'll just see you tonight."

"Okay, see you tonight." He started towards the exit.

Just before Jackie opened the office door, she turned back towards the exit and called "Eric!"

He turned surprisingly back to face her. "Yeah?"

She gave him a sincere smile. "Good luck."

He returned the gesture. "Thanks. You too!"

"Thanks!" their gaze lingered for a moment before they both went through their respective doors.

_In Bruce's Office…_

Bruce stood up from his desk as Jackie walked in. "Jackie, please, have a seat."

She did as instructed, wearing an excited smile. "I know Bruce, the show was great and you just want to keep me…"

"Ahem…may I speak, please?"

"Oh yeah…sure…sorry."

"Well, after last week's On the Road where you and Eric went to Milwaukee and Madison aired, I got a call from another television station based in Chicago. They absolutely loved your story and they are interested in having you work for them starting in two weeks."

Jackie's eyes grew wide. "Wait, what?"

"I know, I couldn't believe it either. But they said after seeing your piece on the trip and how you and Eric discovered what the real story was there, that they're confident that you guys will be able to bring that ability to their station."

"Wait, did you say guys, like as in plural?"

Bruce nodded. "Yes I did. The station is interested in Eric as well. They love the dynamic that you two bring to the table working together."

Jackie clapped her hands happily. "Yay! This is great, I'm actually starting a career, and…wait, do you need to talk to Eric now?"

"Is he still out there?"

"No, he had something else to take care of. I'll be seeing him later on; can I be the one to tell him?"

"As long as you do it by tomorrow, that's fine. Congratulations!" Bruce stood with a smile extending his hand.

Jackie jumped up excitedly and pulled him into a hug. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you! I'll see you tomorrow." She then raced excitedly for the door.

Bruce shook his head "Quite the handful, that one" he muttered to himself after she left.

_Later that night…_

The tents were set up by the lake and the boys had just started the fire as the six friends gathered around it.

Kelso was busy explaining to his friends what he had been up to with Brooke and Betsy in Chicago. "Seriously you guys, being a dad is totally awesome! You get to play with toys, you get to read all sorts of cool books, you get to take a nap, you get to…"

Hyde just had to know. "And what brilliant literary works did you read Kelso?"

Kelso had a giant smile on his face. "There's this one called _The Little Engine that Could_, how the engine just kept trying and trying to get to the top of the hill, I mean I was right there with him! That's really hard, man!"

Donna added her two cents. "Well, I'm really proud of you, Kelso. It sounds like you're really taking your responsibility as a father seriously."

"Well, thanks Donna! You can reward me by coming over when Brooke's at work and help her out with the whole breast feeding thing and…Ouch!"

"You dill-hole!"

Fez then had a thought. "What are we doing here? We're sitting here with no booze, no circles, let's get going here!"

Hyde reached into his pocket and pulled something out. "As you all can see, I've got the circle part of this covered. Kelso, let's go get the beer out of your van!"

Kelso frowned while looking at the ground. "Uh, yeah…about that…ouch!"

Hyde punched him on the shoulder. "You forgot the beer?"

"I'm sorry! I was thinking about the little engine during the ride here and…" he was getting pulled to his feet.

"Well, we're going to get beer right now! Hopefully Leo's around somewhere! Oh, you better come too Donna in case we have to bribe this idiot's brother!"

Donna rolled her eyes while standing. "Great! I may have to be used as a bargaining chip for a Kelso. I feel like I'm setting the women's movement back even more." The three of them then made their way to the El Camino.

Fez then stood and turned to Eric and Jackie. "Well, I'm going to the tire swing by the lake. Laurie told us last year about the topless rides that go on down there and I'm hoping for a few new arrivals." He jumped up and started running towards the lake.

Eric and Jackie shared a laugh by the fire as their foreign friend run. "Our friends, I have no words!" She declared.

He agreed. "Yeah, but I could so see Kelso getting into that Little Engine story the way he did."

"That's not much of a stretch."

Eric sighed and looked up at the moonlight reflecting off the lake. "You know what this reminds me of?"

Jackie gave a knowing look. "The cabin of course, except with a bed and a couch instead of a tent."

"Yeah, I think that was truly the first time I really enjoyed working with you."

"Yeah, me too." She replied with a wink. "Speaking of work and everything like that, I kind of have something to tell you."

Eric gave a slight chuckle. "Well, I have something to tell you too. I wanted to tell you first before I told everyone else since we've been working together so much lately."

Jackie smiled. "Yeah, I was kind of waiting for the same thing too. So tell me, what's going on?"

"Uh…why don't you go first?"

"No, you go first"

"No, you!"

"No you!"

They both shared a look and burst into laughter. When they calmed down, Jackie spoke. "C'mon Eric. How many times in my life have I let someone else talk before me? Go ahead, really." She encouraged him by patting him on the knee.

Eric took a deep breath. "Well when I went to see Mr. Bray, I told him about the work we were doing with the show and all and I asked him what I could do with that experience in order to get money for college. It just so happens that a filmmaker is doing a documentary to raise awareness for starving children and he needs an assistant."

Jackie gave a warm smile. "Eric, that's great. Where exactly are these starving children?"

"Get this…Africa!" he replied excitedly.

"There's an Africa in Wisconsin?" she asked confused.

"No, there's an Africa in Africa! I'll be leaving in two weeks!"

Jackie gasped and shielded her eyes for a moment to wipe away any tears that thought of starting. She took a breath and smiled. "Eric…that's…that's…great! I'm so happy for you, you really deserve this!" she said while taking his hand.

"So, did you have something you wanted to tell me?" he asked curiously.

"N-N-nothing that can't wait…come give me a hug!" Eric did as instructed; not noticing the smile Jackie had slowly became a frown as they deepened their embrace.


	13. Chapter 13

**A Point Place Production**

**Chapter 13**

_A few days after the camping trip…_

Red and Eric were up in the parents' bedroom attempting to coax Kitty out of bed for the day. "Look outside mom! The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and I'm not leaving for Africa for another week, so there's really no need to be sad yet."

Kitty looked taken aback as Red put a palm to his face. "Are you trying to tell me how to feel in my own house, which you don't even want to be anywhere near anymore?"

Eric gulped when he only saw daggers staring back at him. "Uh…no."

Red grabbed Eric by the arm and led him out of the room. "We'll be right back honey." He announced. Once in the hallway, he continued. "Maybe now isn't the best time to tell your mother about your plans for the next couple of days."

"Dad, this is the only chance I'm going to get to see Hyde and Donna's place before I leave. Besides, it gives Jackie and me the perfect opportunity to cover the grand opening of Hyde's new Grooves store for our last show together."

"Don't worry, I get it. I will never complain about another day you and your friends spend away from this house, trust me!"

"Well, it's not like everyone is going to be gone. I mean, Fez found Laurie on the topless tire swing thing when we were camping at the lake last week."

"Don't remind me! Why is it that out of all of you, I get stuck with the foreign one being around here all the time?"

"Life's not fair, dad. Just be thankful it's not Kelso."

Red nodded. "Look at that! All these years and you finally made a good point! Now, get out of here and let me handle your mother."

Eric gave Red a pat on the back as he started towards the stairs. "Good luck pop."

He continued down the stairs where a bag of his things were waiting for him. He had packed the night before and really had hoped that his mother would be in a better mood, but straightening things out with her would have to wait until after the this latest trip. He was going to meet Jackie at the station, as she said that she was doing more work for what was to be her final show in Point Place as well. She had told him about her chance in Chicago and he was thrilled that she was going to get a chance to make a career out of being on television, as it really suited her well. He did notice however, that she had kept her distance from him and the house quite a bit since the camping trip. She just stopped by a couple days ago to discuss plans for the next show and abruptly left once they were in place. As much as he hated to admit it to himself, he was starting to miss having her around over the last few days. Lost in his thoughts, he started the Vista Cruiser and pulled out of the driveway.

_At the television station…_

Jackie sat at her desk staring at the same blank piece of paper for past fifteen minutes. She wanted to have everything in order for her once broadcast before leaving for the lake and Milwaukee; however she just could not concentrate. She had been walking around in a stunned state for the past week, ever since Eric told her about the whole Africa thing. She was happy for him, as she could clearly see that it was an opportunity he really wanted to take advantage of. After seeing how happy he was talking about it, she couldn't bring herself to tell him that the possibility of continuing to work together existed as well. If she was ever going to change for the better, this had to be the start of it. She thought it would be too selfish of her to try to get him to stay. She nodded to herself that she made the right choice.

Suddenly the door opened and Eric was standing in the doorway. "You ready to go?"

"You bet, just let me get my…"

"Too late." He cut her off. "They're in the car already."

"Thanks." She replied with a smile as she followed him to the Vista Cruiser.

_In the car, on the road…_

Eric looked over at Jackie, who was staring blankly out the window. They had been on the road for about half an hour by now and she had barely even uttered a word or even attempted to fight for her radio station. Becoming increasingly concerned or bored, he wasn't sure which one it was, Eric decided to break the silence. "So, uh…what's going on?"

Jackie shrugged. "Nothing, just looking out the window."

"Well, I obviously know that, but I'm very scared that you're being this quiet. Hell, I didn't even know you were even capable of being this quiet, at least while you're awake."

"Nothing's going on, Forman. Everything's fine. We're on our way for a night with two of our closest friends before we work on our final story tomorrow. That's all." She replied with a straight face.

_Damn, dating Hyde for all that time DID have an impact on her after all._ Eric thought after seeing the demeanor of her response. He was becoming increasingly worried that something was wrong with her, but he needed some sort of final confirmation. With that in mind, he reached into the glove department and pulled out his Styx cassette. While in the process of doing that, Jackie didn't even flinch. She just kept blankly staring out the window. "You don't mind if I put in my Styx collection for the rest of the trip, do you?" he questioned with a smirk.

Again, Jackie had no reaction at all as she kept staring out the window. "Whatever, it's cool."

_Aw,crap. She's not happy with me about something. _Eric thought about asking her what the matter was, but having whatever conversation that was to come of this probably wasn't the best idea while he was driving. Defeated, he popped the cassette in the deck and the only sounds heard for the rest of the ride up were the melodies of Styx.

_Upon arriving at the house…_

Eric had never been so glad to stop listening to Styx in his entire life as he placed the Vista Cruiser in park and hopped out as fast as he could. Jackie followed suit, as Donna stepped out of the house to greet them. "Hey, long time no see, huh?"

"Donna, this place is great." Eric proclaimed as he took up his surroundings. "I can see how this beats the dorms in Madison."

Donna waved it off. "Eh. It's okay." She then turned to Jackie. "So, how are you?"

Jackie made eye contact with the both of them for the first time since exiting the car. "Uh…me? I'm good. I just kind of feel like going for a walk to see the lake, so I'll see…"

Donna grabbed her arm "Whoa, Jackie, don't just hit and run here. I've got to go to the store anyway to grab some stuff for dinner. Come with me and we'll take a walk after if you want."

Jackie sighed heavily. "Fine, let's go."

"Eric, go on in, Hyde's out back." Donna instructed.

"Okay, see you ladies." Eric replied as he started to grab all the bags from the car before going inside.

_A few minutes later…_

Eric couldn't believe the sight before him as he exited the back door as Hyde was getting ready to grill burgers and hot dogs on the back deck overlooking the lake. "Wow! I never thought I'd see Steven Hyde, my surrogate brother, all domesticated like this!"

"Shut up Forman, who asked you anyway? But, I am glad you're here?"

"Aw, Hyde really does love me! I guess that means it's time for a hug." He proclaimed as he opened his arms.

Hyde shoved him away. "Don't make me throw you on the grill with the burgers."

"Seriously though, this is one hell of a place out here man." Eric complimented.

"Well just you guys wait until we christen this deck with its first circle later on."

"I can't wait. After all that's been going on I think we all could use that tonight!"

"What's the problem Forman? I thought you'd be really excited about Africa and all."

"I am, but not everyone is excited about my going, especially my mom and…then there's…well…"

Hyde chuckled and shook his head. "C'mon Forman you can tell me. Then there's Jackie, right? It's okay; I got to make my peace there during graduation and all."

"Well, yeah. I mean, she was okay up until the camping trip. Since then, she's barely even been able to even look me in the eye. And the worst part is that we still have to work together to cover your store's opening tomorrow."

"Well good luck with that, Forman. I know you'll need it. You won't want to hear this, but take it from someone who's been there many times before. Whatever this is with Jackie means either she's really upset with you, or she's not telling you something. Tomorrow probably won't go all that well unless you nip this thing in the bud tonight."

Eric threw up his hands. "I don't understand this anyway. After all, this was just a business arrangement until we figured out what to do with ourselves next. I thought she'd be thrilled that we get to go our separate ways after tomorrow."

Hyde sighed heavily and crossed his arms. "You really don't still believe that to be true, do you Forman? Donna and I saw you guys dancing at the post grad party. People with a business arrangement only don't typically act like that. Just think about it. Cause if you don't, you're in for a very long day tomorrow."

Eric sighed and nodded. "Thanks man. I needed that. Now help me forget that I need to have that talk later."

"Will, do. Think fast!" Hyde replied as he tossed his skinny friend a beer as they started grilling dinner.

Of course, Eric bobbled the beer and it fell to the deck.

Hyde laughed. "Yep, same ol' Forman!"

"Shut up!" Eric protested as he went to the cooler to claim another beer.

_Meanwhile…_

Donna and Jackie sat at a picnic table overlooking the lake further down the road from the house. "So Jackie, do you care to tell me what's on your mind. I know that something is. It's the only time you're ever this quiet for this long!"

Jackie sighed. "Donna, it's just hard, you know? You just get used to one thing, and all of a sudden things change just like that!"

"Yeah, it's just called life Jackie. My question for you is whose change are you dreading the most? Eric's or your own?"

Jackie scoffed. "Eric? Why would I even care what he does? I mean, this working together thing was just a business arrangement, that's all!"

Donna smiled. "C'mon Jackie, Hyde and I saw you guys dancing together at the party after the graduation ceremony. All I'm saying is people who only just work together aren't usually seen dancing together at events like that."

Jackie took a deep breath and looked down at the ground before responding. "Look, this is really hard for me to admit. I haven't even been over there all week because any time I see Eric or I'm at his house, I just think about…about…"

"Continue." Donna said when she started to freeze.

Jackie sighed again. "After everything we've been through all these years, I can't believe I'm going to say this. I can't stop thinking about…about…how much I'm going to miss him if he leaves for Africa."

"So let me get this straight. Jackie Burkhart, cheerleader is really going to miss Eric Forman, the geek. After all those years of grief you gave me about him and all…"

Jackie cut her off as she heard enough. "Donna, this is hard enough as it is!"

"I know and I'm sorry. Wait; just give me one more second of self- satisfaction." She took a deep breath. "Okay, I'm good now."

"Donna!"

"Look Jackie, you understand why Eric is doing this, right? He has no other way to get money for college at the moment."

"Donna, what if I told you that wasn't true?"

"What are you talking about Jackie?"

"The station in Chicago had positions open for both Eric and myself. They really liked our piece on the road trip we took a couple weeks ago and wanted us to do that segment weekly on the news."

"So Eric still wanted to do the Africa thing instead?"

"Not exactly; I kind of never told him about the opening in Chicago. You should have seen the look on his face when he was telling me about Africa. He seemed so excited and happy to be going, and I feel like it's too selfish of me to ask him to take the job in Chicago."

"Jackie, there's a lot more to it than just whatever is going on with the two of you. That would give him the opportunity to stay closer to friends and family plus have a good job for himself. You have to tell him and let him know there's a choice."

"I never thought of it like that. I guess you're right; I have to tell him. Though I doubt he's going to want to work with me after all this."

"No, not right away at least. But that's why you need to tell him as soon as possible. So you can give him time to make a rational decision. The more time he has to do that, the better."

"But he's going to be so mad and I don't want him to be because I…I…" Jackie froze mid-sentence.

"Keep going, because?" Donna encouraged.

"Because I really care about him." She admitted aloud.

Donna got up off the table. "Well, while you're telling him things, I'd make sure you let him know about that too. Now let's go eat before the food gets cold." She helped Jackie off the table as they proceeded back to the car and down the street.


End file.
